Archives for February 2016

There are a lot of funding pieces involved in the Albuquerque Rapid Transit project, and while officials try to lay it out to the public, they are often asked a specific question. Will the city move forward if the U.S. Congress doesn’t approve the Federal Transit Administration’s $69.7 million Small Starts grant for construction?

Bruce Rizzieri, director of the city’s transit department, says yes, but: “If we don’t get Small Starts, we won’t be doing about 75 percent of the project.”

The $69.7 million was earmarked in President Obama’s budget that still has to be approved by Congress.

Rizzieri explained that a portion of the project could still be completed with the remainder of the $119 million total project funds — about $49.6 million — which would provide infrastructure improvements to the Central Avenue transit corridor. Those funds are already set aside for such purposes, he said. Of that amount, about $18.7 million would come from four different local sources, including $13 million that the Albuquerque City Council authorized last year from the city’s gross receipts taxes revenue bonds — money that the city will start spending on the project once it secures a preconstruction agreement from the FTA authorizing it to count toward the city’s local match to the Small Starts grant. For the grant, the city must provide 20 percent in matching funds to the federal government’s 80 percent.

Another chunk of federal funds, $31 million, is also already available from 12 separate sources, including the FTA, the Congestion Mitigation and Air Quality Improvement program, and the Surface Transportation Program, which are provided for streetscape and intersection improvements.

Unlike those funds, Rizzieri explained that the Small Starts grant can only be used to implement new transit projects like ART, and that it would be used to build new median platform “island” stations and redesign the corridor to provide a dedicated center bus lane.

According to Michael Riordan, chief operations officer for the mayor’s office and the city of Albuquerque, the city will start spending the $18.7 million in local money, which also includes about $4.7 million in matching funds from a Central Avenue streetscape infrastructure program, and a roadway rehabilitation allocation, if it receives a “letter of no prejudice” from the FTA. The local sources are enough to float the project until Congress decides whether or not to approve the Small Starts grant, likely in May. The city won’t spend more than the $18.7 million until it has confirmation. If confirmation is forthcoming, the city would be able to continue spending above the $18.7 million with general obligation money that it would pay back once the $69.7 million in federal funds are in hand.

Four more public meetings are planned for neighborhoods affected by the project. Access the schedule here.

By: Blake Driver (Albuquerque Business First)

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Last year was a banner year for large retail power centers that host big box stores filled with national tenants.

Consider what was built last year and is still under construction. Winrock Town Center, with tenants including T.J. Maxx and Nordstrom Rack on the way. The South Valley’s massive Las Estancias’ development, which recently opened a 12-screen movie theater; and Rio Rancho’s Plaza at Enchanted Hills, with retailers Bed Bath & Beyond and Michaels.

A 4Q retail report by the Albuquerque office of CBRE shows of all the retail space leased out last year, 45 percent of it took place in power centers, while strip centers experienced 20 percent of the activity.

All that activity is pushing rents up for power center spaces. The median rent rate of those big centers was $22.75 per square foot in 2015, a big jump from $17 in 2014.

“This is primarily due to newly delivered small spaces available for higher lease rates, and strong demand for tightening availably in this category,” the report said, which is written by senior research analyst Atsuko Poelman.

A dive into the numbers show neighborhood centers — think grocery stores with small shops around — and strip centers, lost about 81,000 square feet of leased retail space last year, while the power retail centers gained 266,742 square feet of new tenants.

“I don’t think Albuquerque is different than other markets in that there is still a flight to quality and the smaller retailers are really utilizing and depending on the traffic that anchors bring to a retail shopping center,” said Lia Armstrong with CBRE’s retail team. “Nob Hill and Downtown are both great submarkets in their own unique ways and cater to the local, more unique tenant mixes versus the regional and national retailers that depend on anchors and regional/national tenant mix… I think there is room for both.”

Retailers coming into the market or expanding are demanding even more power centers, and with so few under construction and already pre-leased, they’ll look to redevelopment projects, the report said.

One such example is the West Central Plaza Shopping Center, the redevelopment of a large former Kmart store on Central Avenue and Atrisco Drive, where Burlington Coat Factory and Conn’s HomePlus will locate. With other national retailers closing, such as Staples downsizing in Albuquerque, it’s likely more redevelopment opportunities will occur in the market.

Overall activity in 2015 posted positive numbers. Gross activity was about the same as the five-year average, but not as much space was vacated when compared to the past two years. In the 4Q of 2015, the retail space in the Cottonwood area was 96.3 percent occupied (the highest), while Downtown posted the lowest occupancy rate at 73.5 percent.

By: Stephanie Guzman (Albuquerque Business First)

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NSF reveals development for first Product Category Rule (PCR) in North America for roof coating materials alongside the Roof Coatings Manufacturers Association (RCMA)

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