Archives for May 2013

The debate over public access to real estate information long-controlled by REALTORS® took center stage Saturday at the Board of Directors meeting of the National Association of REALTORS®. At issue on the concluding day of the NAR Midyear Legislative Meetings & Trade Expo was whether MLSs should be able to charge members for establishing, maintaining, and promoting public-facing Web sites by including such sites in the “basic” services they provide to members.
Directors rejected the idea of “kicking the can down the road” to further consider technicalities of the proposal, as had been recommended by the NAR Executive Committee.
The move in favor of public-facing Web sites followed a separate discussion about the need for realtor.com to enhance and broaden its content and user experience in response to evolving consumer needs and expectations. Explaining that “these are not ordinary times” for the industry, realtor.com president Errol Samuelson offered a presentation to the Board that described the accuracy of the site as second to none because of its leading-edge technology. He noted that “90 percent of the site is updated every 15 minutes.” The rest of the site is updated in the same day.
Read highlights of the action-packed Board of Directors meeting that took place at Midyear.

The old Manderfield School on Santa Fe’s Canyon Road may be getting some new life.
A tentative plan for the property by a private developer calls for art studios, a coffee shop and 10 residences.
The old school building would be kept intact and house the commercial space and six apartments. Four new casitas and accompanying carports would be built along the property’s western and southern boundaries.
The plans were unveiled Wednesday at an early neighborhood notification meeting at First Presbyterian Church on Grant Street that attracted more than 20 people.
Manderfield, located across from Cristo Rey Church, was designed by famed architect John Gaw Meem and built in the 1920s. After years of operation as a grade school, Manderfield began housing the Santa Fe County Head Start program in 1968. However, Head Start departed several years ago and Manderfield has since been empty.
Santa Fe Public Schools currently owns the 1.48-acre property but plans to sell it to Clare and Michael Maraist. Clare Maraist, who attended Wednesday’s meeting, said the sale is contingent on city approval of the new development.
Conceptual plans call for about one-third of the old school, roughly 4,000 square feet, to be dedicated to art studios and the coffee shop. Apartments will be built out in the remainder of the building.
Jennifer Jenkins of Jenkins Gavin Design, an agent for the project, said four requests will be submitted to the city: to rezone the property from five residential units per acre to a residential arts and crafts district; for a general plan amendment to go from public/institutional zoning to residential medium density; a variance allowing for 1,000 more square feet of commercial space than would otherwise be permissible; and a special use permit for the coffee shop.
Jenkins said a tentative schedule calls for public hearings before the Planning Commission in July and City Council in August or September. The project’s design will also eventually need approval from the Historic Districts Review Board.
A groundbreaking probably won’t occur until at least summer or fall of 2014, Jenkins said.
Several people at the ENN meeting gave tentative support to the project but expressed concerns about traffic, density, parking and other issues. Neighbors of the property said they hope the new development won’t cause privacy, drainage and or other types of problems for the surrounding homes.
Maraist said she envisions the coffee shop, in particular, as a neighborhood-type spot and not a high-traffic hang-out.
By: Kiera Hay (Albuquerque Journal)
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Anchored by Albuquerque Urology Associates, the Pinnacle Point medical development is nearing completion on an 8,470-square-foot phase one.
The Class A office space is located at 4410 Irving Blvd. NW, in an emerging medical hub area close to Lovelace Westside Hospital and the Presbyterian Rust Medical Center.
Mark Edwards of Edwards Commercial Realty is marketing the nearly 16,000-square-foot complex. He said the first phase will be completed by the end of June.
“It has the potential to serve a vast variety of medical clientele and customers on Albuquerque’s Westside, Rio Rancho, North Valley and North Albuquerque Acres areas,” he said.
Phase one included Albuquerque Urology Associates’ expansion of its operations into the development. It occupies 5,300 square feet at Pinnacle Point and also maintains offices at 610 Broadway Blvd. NE.
Phase two will include the development of about 7,300 square feet.
“We are focused on leasing units or structuring leases with purchase options that could be exercised as early as mid-2016,” Edwards said.
The starting lease rate for an unfinished shell is $16 per square foot and suites are available from 1,368 to 7,228 square feet.
The general contractor on the project is Albuquerque’s Richardson & Richardson. The architectural work is being done by Tijeras-based AKT Architects.
By: Damon Scott (Albuquerque Business First)
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