Cannabis Coming to a Backyard Near You

There’s a proposed mixed-use project at Seven Bar Loop and Coors Boulevard planned for development of a 5,040 SF office, an 8,121 SF two-story cannabis store, a 4,057 SF restaurant and 14 townhomes (dubbed 7 Bar Townhouses) on the 3.14-acre site.

The site is owned by A Management Corporation managed by Pierre Amestoy, which will also owner-occupy the cannabis store–Enchanted Botanicals.

To allow for the development, portions of the site were re-zoned from MX-T to MX-L and from MX-L to MX-T (yes, you read that right).

The townhomes will be located to the east, presumably to take advantage of views of the Sandia Mountains, which will mean the proposed cannabis shop will literally be in their backyard!

The retail/office/restaurant will be located behind the existing fronting Coors, including Nusenda, Take 5 and Popeye’s.

Starbucks at Wyoming Mall

I previously posted about the redevelopment former Furr’s at the Wyoming Mall at 2004 Wyoming Boulevard NE here: https://abqcre.wordpress.com/2022/10/05/raising-canes-rising-in-nm/. The Furr’s was razed and two pad sites were created. The first pad was developed with a Raising Cane’s, and a Starbucks is proposed to be constructed on the second pad.

The proposed Starbucks will be 2,505 SF on a 1.02-acre site, with drive-thru stacking capacity for 14 cars. Site plan approval is currently in process.

The property is being developed by Westwood Financial (https://westfin.com/), which has owned the site since 2013 when it acquired the four existing retail buildings (Furr’s, two strip centers and Dollar Tree) on the pads south of Walmart.

Residence Inn & Food Hall at The Highlands

Titan Development is in the process of developing the next phase of its Highlands project across the street from Presbyterian Hospital at 1111 Central Avenue NE.

The project will be six stories with about 80,000 SF comprising the 120-room Residence Inn and 20,000 SF being an attached two-story food hall all of which will be on a 0.72-acre site. There will be a parking structure providing 165 total parking spaces.

It appears this phase of development may start in 2024.

The overall Highlands development includes the existing 118-room Marriott Springhill Suites hotel and the Olympus (formerly Broadstone) Highlands North Apartments with 92 units, both of which were completed in 2021. An additional 228 units are planned for a future multifamily project dubbed Highlands East. Development is ongoing and subject to change based on market demand. For example, the currently planned Residence Inn does not appear to have been part of initial plans, which are shown below for reference (see https://www.titan-development.com/project/the-highlands for more info).

Large, Mixed-use Project | Mesa del Sol

Woodbury Corporation out of Salt Lake City, UT (https://www.woodburycorp.com) is planning to develop a mixed-use multifamily/retail property with 420 units and 13,567 SF of ground-floor retail space on a 9.5-acre site in Mesa del Sol. The project will total an impressive 436,236 SF of gross area to be developed in two phases. This will be Woodbury’s first development in New Mexico.

The site plan shows nine three- and four-story residential buildings, two garage buildings and a clubhouse. The development will be Class A with high-end finishes and amenities.

Amenities are planned to include a pool, fitness center, business center, second-level indoor dining, and a terrace overlooking the pool and courtyard. Other proposed amenities include a golf simulator, jam room and a podcast room.

The unit mix will consist of 104 studios, 270 one-bedroom, and 46 two-bedroom units. The density is 42.52 dwelling units per acre. University street height will be 37.4 feet, with a step down for neighborhood facing buildings. Balconies will be located on all sides.

This will be the second large-scale apartment in Mesa del Sol after Encanto at Mesa del Sol (308 units) by DiNapoli / Cruachan Capital under construction at 2500 Bobby Foster Road SE to be delivered Fall 2023. Marketed pre-leasing rental rates at Encanto range from $1,750 to $2,173 per month.

The site plan was approved on August 17, 2023.

Another Coffee Shop

Coffee and cannabis, cannabis and coffee. With the number of coffee and cannabis shops in Albuquerque, there’s a high probability that most are “highly” caffeinated (ha!).

A Human Bean franchise is coming near the northwest corner of Wyoming Boulevard and San Antonio Drive at 7301 San Antonio Drive NE.

Human Bean is a coffee franchise founded in 1998 and headquartered in Oregon with 300+ locations in 20 states. The treat people like “real Human Beans” (their words, not mine). This will be their second location in the Albuquerque area, and they also have one in Los Lunas (or will as it is nearing completion).

The 36,647 SF site is owned by American Stores Properties, Inc. (Albertson’s).

Similar to the Starbucks at Four Hills, the development appears to be an agreement directly between Albertson’s and the Human Bean franchisee and will be drive-thru only.

The restaurant will be 640 SF with two drive-thru lanes, two walk-up ordering windows and a patio area. The restaurant will require 15 employees.

Modulus Architects & Land Use Planning, Inc. is the representative for the entitlement process.

The site plan was approved on September 27, 2023.

Andretti Indoor Karting & Games

The final vacant lot of the former Beach Waterpark site is planned to be developed for yet a third entertainment-related property to be flanked by Top Golf and Revel. It is proposed to be developed with Andretti Indoor Karting & Games, a premiere indoor entertainment/amusement/recreation
facility featuring multiple entertainment venue featuring multiple entertainment and F&B offerings under one roof. According to the site plan submittal, typical Andretti facilities include many of the following attractions for its guests:

• Indoor Electric Karting
• 120+ Arcade Games
• Immersive Virtual Reality Experiences
• 7D Xperience Motion Theater
• Laser Tag Arena
• Racing Simulators
• Boutique/Duckpin Bowling
• Ropes Course, Rock Wall and Zip Line
• Full Restaurant / Bar
• On-site scratch kitchen
• Over 10,000 SF of Meeting & Event Space w/ Gourmet In-House F&B service

The facility will be 96,069 SF on 9.22 acres and is projected to have 13,250 visitors per week.

The site is currently a large ponding area that is below grade. Albuquerque Business First reported that about 96,000 cubic feet of dirt will be brought in to balance the site (https://www.bizjournals.com/albuquerque/news/2022/05/24/city-board-plans-for-go-kart-topgolf-location.html).

County records indicate the site was acquired by Prop 13 Albq, LLC on December 13, 2022. I was unable to determine if this will be a build-to-suit or if the site is being developed by Andretti.

The site plan was approved on August 30, 2023.

Starbucks at 4 Hills

It appears there are plans for a Starbucks restaurant near Central and Tramway. Where, you might ask?

It appears a half-acre site (2,1481 SF) at the southwest corner of the Smith’s site at 200 Tramway Boulevard SE will be carved out to accommodate the development.

I find the location interesting since the Tramway and Central intersection attracts a rough crowd, to say the least, and has significant crime issues. Surely the positioning of the site at the south end of the Smith’s parking lot is strategic to be somewhat removed from the “action” at the hard corner and to attract more of the Four Hills demographic, similar to the Valvoline and BeeHive across the street along Wenonah. A neighborhood representative at the pre-submittal meeting is holding out hope that the property will be a good deterrent to crime and a catalyst for future development in the neighborhood.

Likely because of the issues noted, the Starbucks will be a 1,310 SF drive-thru with no indoor dining (walk-up ordering only).

Modulus Architects & Land Use Planning is representing Smith’s Food & Drug Center Inc. in the entitlement process. I thought I’d see a build-to-suit developer behind the deal, but it appears to be a deal between Smith’s and Starbucks.

The site plan was approved on July 20, 2023.

Upscale Event Center in Airport Submarket

A 3.7-acre site at 1611 Airtech Court SE is planned to be developed with an upscale event center. Querque LLC has owned the site since 2007, but the site is believed to be in contract to be sold to the ultimate developer of the site, which is a local family-owned business.

According to documents filed with the City of Albuquerque, the developer was looking for a wedding venue in the Albuquerque area and realized there was a void in upscale, elegant venues.

The plan is to provide a unique venue for special events, focusing on weddings, sweet 16s and quinceaneras, with state-of-the-art lighting and sound systems.

The proposed building area is currently unknown.

The Pearl

Rembe Urban Design & Development, led by prolific developer Jay Rembe, is planning to redevelop a 0.58-acre site at 1623 & 1701 Central Avenue NW, across the street from the existing Country Club Plaza, with The Pearl.

The Pearl is proposed to be a 4-story mixed-use property with 34 upper-level apartment units and 1,712 SF of ground floor retail space. According to the Albuquerque Development Commission, the total cost of the project is $7.75 million.

The apartment units will be market-rate and 28 gated parking spaces, including EV charging stations, for the units will be provided at the north end of the lot. Parking for the commercial space will be across the street at Country Club Plaza, also owned and developed by Jay Rembe, and the developer plans to put a shared parking agreement in place.

The project is named after George Pearl, a local architect and resident of the nearby neighborhood with ties to the developer.

The site was historically improved with two dilapidated buildings that were cleared to allow for the proposed project. The developer reports that the initial plan was to rehabilitate these buildings, but after investigation this proved to be infeasible. Further, the buildings were determined to not be historically relevant; however, many historical features were salvaged for future use, such as the coopered porch columns, doors, hardware and cast iron plumbing fixtures, in addition to the wooden structure.

Another Dutch Bros on Juan Tabo

On December 9, 2022, Accelerated Development purchased 2501 Juan Tabo Boulevard NE with the intent to develop a Dutch Bros Coffee.

The site is about 0.53 acre or 23,087 SF and it was historically used as the Murchison Training Center, which building is functionally obsolete and will be demolished for the proposed development.

This will be the second Dutch Bros on Juan Tabo, with the other store being about 2 miles to the south.

The developer, Accelerated Development, is led by Dave Cheatham in Phoenix.