When the conversation about Albuquerque’s Downtown shifts away from vacant buildings and shuttered businesses, it’s a welcome reprieve for those working to revitalize it. Completed projects, and others in the pipeline, have given city officials and local developers a bit to brag about recently — especially in the West Downtown corridor.
West Downtown is roughly defined as the area west of Fifth Street along Central Avenue. The corridor is an important one for Downtown’s overall appeal, as it also features a line-up of determined restaurants, music venues, and a boast-worthy seasonal event.
“The western edge of Downtown is coming alive,” said Mark Baker, an Albuquerque entrepreneur, developer and architect. “The area around Robinson Park and Bennie Hargrove Park has seen some positive investment in recent years and it’s really ramping up right now.”
Baker owns the 505 Central Food Hall and 505 Central Lofts, located on the doorstep of West Downtown at 505 Central Ave. NW, among other projects in the corridor. He’s particularly jazzed about the $22 million boutique hotel — Arrive Albuquerque by Palisociety — that will replace the former Hotel Blue at 717 Central Ave. NW, and a second Ex Novo Brewery location in the former Firestone Complete Auto Care building at 701 Central Ave. NW.
The six story, 75,000-square foot hotel will feature 135 guest rooms and a coffee shop, bar, pool area and food truck park. The project got support from industrial revenue bonds that the city said wouldn’t require taxpayer funding. City officials said the additional hotel rooms, within walking distance of the Albuquerque Convention Center, will help drive new business that’s been hamstrung by an insufficient number of Downtown room options.
“They got lots of funding and it’s going to be fantastic,” Baker said. “It’s going to be great for everybody. [Hotel Blue] is getting a masterful reinvention by a talented team. Arrive goes all-in so I’m really excited to see the finished product.”
Palisociety officials anticipate opening by the end of the year or in early 2025.
Meanwhile, Ex Novo Brewery Co.’s expanded footprint from its popular Corrales location is a $4 million, 11,000-square foot affair. Hopeful for an opening sometime this year, the two-story project will include a taproom, restaurant, large patio, bar, and cafe-deli. The city contributed $70,000 toward the project through a Metropolitan Redevelopment Agency storefront activation grant.
“If what they did in Corrales is any indication, this project will raise the bar for the neighborhood as well,” Baker said.
Ex Novo opened in Corrales in 2019. Its first two locations were in Oregon, but owner Joel Gregory, originally from New Mexico, recently listed those for sale to focus on his businesses here.
New housing
A thirsty Downtown housing market recently got quenched a bit after Baker opened Villa Agave — a $2.2 million, 15-unit market rate apartment complex at 205 7th Street NW. He rehabilitated a dilapidated and vacant building that was formerly an abandoned assisted living facility known as the St. Mary’s Convent. Featuring studio and one-and-two bedroom units, Baker said five were leased less than two months after a December 2023 opening.
The project received $400,000 in grant assistance from the Metropolitan Redevelopment Agency and a redevelopment tax abatement.
Prior to opening the food hall, Baker developed the upper floors of the former Sears building for the 505 Central Lofts project which he completed in 2017. He said all 34 of the market rate urban style lofts are currently leased.
West Downtown has seen other housing projects, too — one of the most significant came in 2014 with the opening of the Silver Moon Lodge Apartments at 901 Park Ave. SW. Silver Moon was built to help market Downtown as a live-work-play destination with easy transit access. The four-story, 106,000-square-foot development has 151 units — 65 one-bedroom and 86 studios. Developers used tax credits to make rents accessible to moderate income earners.
Resilient businesses
Downtown was not immune to the pandemic gut punch that has shaken the city’s economy since 2020. But there are businesses — many in West Downtown — that have withstood the punch.
Oni, a Japanese restaurant at 600 Central Ave. SW, opened during the particularly challenging summer of 2020, yet it found a way to survive and thrive. Oni began as a popular food truck business, and like many, shifted to takeout and outdoor service to get through months of lockdown.
“Recall the uncertainty, empty streets, and riots that nearly burned down the KiMo Theatre,” David Lee said in a recent edition of Downtown Area News (DAN). “Circumstances for any storefront business, much less a brand-new eatery, don’t get much more dire than that.”
Oni’s chef and co-owner David Gaspar de Alba lives in the West Downtown corridor, just a few blocks from work.
“I’m just all about seeing more pedestrian traffic, just seeing people outside,” he told DAN. “I really want to see Downtown take off.”
Then there’s Sushi Hana — within eyegaze of Oni at 521 Central Ave. NW — which has operated since 2008. Ditto Java Joe’s, located in the shadow of the Silver Moon at 909 Park Ave. SW. It has thrived as a local favorite in West Downtown for decades. There are new additions, too, like the recently opened Damacios Bar & Tapas at 722 Central Ave. SW in the former Villa de Capo space.
Baker’s 505 Central Food Hall opened in the middle of the pandemic in November 2020 and is one of a handful of Downtown destinations that enjoy daytime and nighttime customers.
Downtown Growers’ Market
While West Downtown restaurants and long running music venues like the Historic El Rey and Launchpad will welcome increased foot traffic from the new hotel and brewery, so will the organizers of a cherished seasonal event – the Downtown Growers’ Market at Robinson Park.
The April to November market itself is a West Downtown destination for scores of city residents who buy local produce and food, and enjoy art, music and a palpable sense of community.
Last year, more than 90,000 people visited 230 vendors, 59 growers and heard 30 musicians. The event generates more than $3 million in sales.