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City considers options for Downtown center

By Michael Amedeo
Wednesday, November 15, 2006

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It will be months before the city completes its review of proposals for a Downtown event center, but the plans already have supporters hailing them as a potential catalyst for a new era in Albuquerque.

"An event center for Downtown is truly a regional and statewide venue at that size," said Luisa Casso, president of the Downtown Action Team, a nonprofit promoting the revitalization of Downtown. "It could have a tremendous amount of economic spinoff for the Downtown area and communitywide."

The most modest plan calls for a 10,000-seat arena on the seven acres of land between Central Avenue and the Albuquerque Convention Center.

Other plans submitted propose arenas up to 19,000 seats. Most of the proposals offer retail and residential space. The prospect of a hotel thrown into the mix also bodes well for Downtown, Casso said.

"Our ability to attract conferences really hinges on increasing the number of rooms in Downtown," she said. "That is really an added benefit to the proposals that are being discussed."

Five groups submitted proposals to the city, but only three of the groups provided plans to build, operate and fund the construction of a Downtown event center and other structures. The two other groups offered their design services if and when the city makes a decision.

Terry Keene, owner of the Artichoke Cafe and president of the Broadway-Central Corridors Partnership Neighborhood Association, said an events center could increase the variety of visitors to the area.

"Families and individuals will come . . . not just younger people going to the bars, which seem to be too dominant right now," he said. "I think it would be great for the city as a whole."

He dismisses worries about traffic congestion that might come with thousands of people visiting Downtown.

"The arterials around the Downtown area . . . they're designed to carry a lot of traffic," he said. "It's not going to be a problem."

But City Councilor Isaac Benton says parking for that potential flood of visitors does concern some of his constituents, whose district contains the proposed development site.

"I think the better job they do with making it easy to get there on park and ride, or on the Rail Runner, or whatever, the less of a problem that will be," Benton said.

Otherwise, he has heard few negative comments about the plan.

"For my constituents, I think it will give them a nice venue where we could have top-class musical and sports entertainment," he said. "Those things go for people from all over town."

According to the proposals, professional basketball, hockey, football and soccer teams would consider setting up in the new arena.

But city Chief Operations Officer Ed Adams noted that no decisions will be made for at least several months.

First, a five-person committee must review the proposals. The short-listed developers will come in for interviews. A winning proposal will go to Mayor Martin Chavez, who will take it to the City Council.

At any point, plans could be altered, Adams said. That could include cutting the cost and scope of the project.

That means the plans' current price tags - in some cases hundreds of millions of dollars - could end being drastically changed.

THE PLANS

The city received three proposals for funding, building and operating a new events center and other structures Downtown.

A decision on which plan to use, if any, won't be made for at least several months as a committee reviews the possibilities. Construction costs are estimated into the hundreds of millions of dollars, but could change as the plans are reworked.

The proposals for city land at Second Street and Central Avenue Northwest include:

1

What: 10,000-seat arena, or 19,000 seats if built to the east, closer to Broadway Boulevard. Retail and residential space are possibilities, as are a hotel and entertainment venues.

Who: EpiQ Development Team, consisting of Concord Eastridge Inc., International Facilities Group LLC and Renaissance Development Co.

Funding: Bonds paid off by surcharges on business activity at the event center, revenues from the center and gross-receipts taxes. EpiQ also posed the idea of boosting the city's lodging tax, and a temporary or permanent increase in the gross-receipts tax. The University of New Mexico was proposed as a partial funding partner if the larger facility is built and used by the school's basketball teams.

2

What: 12,000-seat arena, 450-room hotel in a 22-story tower, 27,764 square feet of retail space and 1,000-space parking structure. The floor of the arena would be 15 feet below grade to make room for shops at street level along the arena sides facing Central Avenue and Second Street.

Who: FaulknerUSA, Yates Construction and others.

Funding: The city would form a business entity to own and finance the project by issuing tax-exempt revenue bonds. Gross-receipts taxes, revenue from the center and a surcharge on business activity at the center would pay off the bonds.

3

What: 16,000-seat arena, 420-room hotel, 60 upscale rental apartments, 50,000 square feet of retail and restaurant space.

Who: The ABQ Downtown Development Team, consisting of Garfield Traub Development LLC, Flintridge Partners LLC and Hunt Development Group LP.

Funding: The city would issue bonds paid for by a surcharge on business activity at the center, gross-receipts taxes and revenue from the center. The facility would be publicly owned, but managed by another group.

Source: Development proposals submitted to the city of Albuquerque