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Diane Avila doesn't interpret legal documents, though she does make a mean green-chile-and-blue-cheese hamburger.

So it stands to reason that the owner of the Route 66 Malt Shop panicked a bit when she received word from her landlord that her lease would be terminated.

Skipping the fine print, she immediately put up the words "closing" and "evicted" in the window of her Central Avenue restaurant.

But don't fret, you fans of large, frothy malts.

The Downtown malt shop's not closing for good. Just for a few months.

Chris Calott of Infill Solutions, the Albuquerque company that is redeveloping the property, said the malt shop will have to close as the building is renovated over a period of two to three months.

But his company has assured Avila that her restaurant is more than welcome to come back.

"We met with them (Monday) morning and confirmed our desire to keep them (Avila and husband, Eric Szeman) in the space," Calott said. "They won't be out for more than a month or two."

And when they return, Avila and Szeman will get a "fixed-up, shiny white space with a fixed-up interior and improved patio," Calott said.

The 11-year-old restaurant at 1730 Central Ave. S.W. is part of the historic Horn Oil and Motor Lodge, a Route 66-era motel that is on the National Register of Historic Places.

The building is part of Infill Solutions' 4.5-acre commercial and residential development called Country Club Plaza.

A series of motel units have been removed to make way for 17 "Mediterranean revival-style houses," Calott said.

Over the next year, the plans call for building a new 4,000-square-foot retail component and another 3,700 square feet of spaces for offices or living spaces.

The two remaining Horn Oil buildings will be refurbished to accommodate 7,700 square feet of office and retail space - including the Route 66 Malt Shop.

Calott, who said he's in the market for potential office and retail tenants for all of the buildings, said the Horn Oil refurbishment is meant to re-establish the building's original historic character.

"Our mission is to bring the Horn Oil motor court buildings back to their original Route 66 luster," Calott said. "We'll go beyond that."

That's welcome news to Avila.

The business began as Route 66 Pedicabs - little bicycle cabs that give two people a ride. In providing historic tours of Old Town, the company began making malts to serve to their customers, she said.

"Then some people thought it would be nice to have hamburgers with their milkshakes," she said. And the business grew from there.

Taking off two to three months won't be a problem, Avila said. Especially if it means coming back to an upgraded restaurant - with an outdoor patio.

As it is now, wiring in the Horn Oil building, built in 1949, can't handle the heavy-duty demand of, say, a fryer.

The new building, she hopes, could expand the shop's menu.

"I'm excited," said Avila, "because we've never had a fryer to do french fries."