Archives for March 2016

The 2016 Land Markets Survey is a tool for real estate land professionals in all sectors of the business to use for bench-marking and as an informational resource when conducting business. This year marks the third consecutive year that the survey has been conducted to reveal current trends and the current state of land markets. The survey includes responses from over six-hundred and fourteen expert land professionals including respondents from across North America.
Click here to view land survey slideshow.

By: Accredited Land Consultants (REALTORS® Land Institute)
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Development document set to go before planning and zoning board in April.

LAS CRUCES – The city of Las Cruces is proposing a new development code that officials say would be another big step in downtown revitalization.
City staff reviewed the proposed “form-based” development code, which would cover downtown Las Cruces, on Monday during a city council work session. A 45-day public comment period runs through April 22.
A key difference between the land-use model currently in place and the proposed one is it would focus more on what the city requires in new construction, rather than what is prohibited from being built, said Andy Hume, city downtown coordinator, at the meeting. Most development codes in the city have focused on “function, rather than form” and differentiate between types of uses, such as commercial and residential. While the proposed development code contains an element of that, it also says the form — the “look and feel” — of development is important, he said.
In the form-based mode, types of development could be mixed on the same parcel, such as a storefront on the first level of a building and residential spaces above, Hume said.
“Not that function isn’t important, but what this does is it says it’s actually fine to have small commercial mixed with residential,” he said. “It’s actually the way we developed our cities for many years. It’s fine to have your store owner live above the shop. It reintroduces a form of development that’s been sort of forgotten for a number of years.”
Hume said the proposal also would shift more responsibility for decisions to city administrators, as opposed to land-use boards.
“One of the things we hear many times is about delays in having to go to some of these administrative bodies,” he said.
For instance, Hume said, the city’s planning and zoning board meets monthly, and some projects must wait for meetings to learn whether they get approved.
“What we’re looking at is more administrative oversight,” he said.

Developers in favor

Cindy Hoffman of Steinborn & Associates Real Estate, told city councilors she’s received a lot of positive feedback about the proposed new code from people in the development community.
“It seems to be what our clients are wanting,” she said.
The proposed code would replace the Central Business District and Main Street Overlay codes in the city’s downtown, according to the city.
Hume said another aspect of the proposed code is new development wouldn’t need accompanying parking spaces. There’s a certain area within downtown that currently doesn’t have to provide parking spaces, but the area would be expanded under the proposal.
Hume said the proposed code also includes a “lot of graphics and tables,” which should be “much easier to read” and understand.
The development code redesign is the third of three major recommendations to jump-start downtown revitalization, Hume said. The first was a civic plaza, which is under construction, and the second is the conversion of the one-way Church and Water streets back into two-way routes, a planning process that’s underway.
Councilor Jack Eakman asked whether creating a new development code, given that it would be a new model of zoning for the city, will cause problems for staff who work in downtown planning and land-use, considering the rest of the city would be under a different model.
“I have experienced that sometimes two paradigms is very confusing for everyone,” he said.
Hume says he’d assist other city staff in interpreting the code.
“It is a paradigm shift; you are correct,” he said. “But it is one that staff is willing to roll up their sleeves and take on.”
Said Eakman: “I’ll be watching with great interest.”
Mayor Pro Tem Greg Smith said to a degree, city staff already have experience dealing with two types of zoning because there is a special zoning overlay in the downtown right now.
Hume said the city prefers that public comments on the proposal be submitted in writing. The document is in its third draft. Hume said the city planning and zoning commission will vote April 26 on whether to recommend it to the city council. The proposal is then set to go before the city council in May.
Residents can send comments to Andy Hume, downtown coordinator, at ahume@las-cruces.org, or Community Development, P.O. Box 20000, Las Cruces, NM, 88004, according to the city.
Nonprofit Update
City councilors also heard updates Monday from four nonprofits that have contracts with the city, the Amador Hotel Foundation, the Downtown Las Cruces Partnership, the Doña Ana Arts Council and the Farmers & Crafts Market of Las Cruces.
The hotel foundation raises money and promotes restoration of the city-owned Amador Hotel, a historic building at the south end of the city’s downtown area. Foundation President Heather Pollard told councilors about $575,000 has been raised, including some appropriations from state lawmakers, toward the ongoing restoration project. Recently, carpeting that had been installed in the building by Doña Ana County government, which used the facility for years for office space, was ripped out, exposing some inlay designs on the wooden floor underneath, Pollard told councilors.
Arianna Parsons, executive director of the Downtown Las Cruces Partnership, said that organization is fielding increased inquiries from potential businesses considering locating downtown. She said there have been more inquiries in the first quarter of 2016 than all of 2015.
Market Manager Duane Mosley said the Farmers & Crafts Market of Las Cruces has seen heightened interest from people wanting to become temporary vendors at the market, which happens on Wednesday and Saturday mornings in the downtown area.
Councilor Ceil Levatino asked when the summertime evening markets are slated to start again. Mosley said the first one is expected in May.
Presenters with the Doña Ana Arts Council, which has a contract with the city to operate its historic Rio Grande Theatre in the downtown, told councilors they’ve had to support the operation with other funding from the organization, in addition to revenue provided to the group each year. Scott Breckner, president of the arts council, said a trend across the country is that it’s difficult for small nonprofit theaters to earn revenue. In Las Cruces, there are several theaters competing with one another, as well, he said. The group will have to consider whether to continue offering free shows, he said.
The city paid DAAC $120,000 in 2015 to run the theater.
By: Diana Alba Soular (Las Cruces Sun-News)
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Whether it stems from the influence of the hit television show Mad Men, or even the rise in popularity of Ikea furniture, modernist building is hip again. Even in Albuquerque.

And perhaps the greatest and most prominent example of modernist architecture in Albuquerque is the Simms Building, a Downtown office tower built in 1954. Simms, with its large glass exterior, was designed by architects Max Flatow and Jason Moore, who brought a new type of modernism to the city’s skyline.

The Simms Building is one of the best examples of modernist in Albuquerque. Read the case study at albuquerquemodernism.unm.edu
Brian Goldstein, an assistant professor at the University of New Mexico, wanted to highlight modernist architecture in Albuquerque — so he had a group of students from the School of Architecture and Planning research other examples of modernism.

A historian, Goldstein had his students search archives and create a website that maps out 26 examples of modernist architecture, including both commercial buildings and homes. Each property is highlighted in a case study, which includes recent and historical photos. The website is called Albuquerque Modernism. (Access the accompanying slideshow to see a some of the buildings on the list.)

“We tend to associate Albuquerque architecture with Spanish Colonial or Pueblo Revival, but Albuquerque is a modern city,” Goldstein said.

Albuquerque’s modernist movement began when the city became a hub for federal defense projects before World War II, prompting many East Coast families to move to the area. Goldstein said Albuquerque experienced a major population boom during that time. The city had 15,000 residents in 1920, and grew to more than 200,000 residents by 1960.

Goldstein said even though Albuquerque is thought of as a regional city within the state, during the 1960s people living in Albuquerque related to the city on a national and international scale.

“People designing these buildings weren’t thinking of Albuquerque as a moderate to major regional city. They were thinking of how to link Albuquerque to New York City by designing a building that looks like one in New York City,” he said.

Goldstein said that some property owners used to tear down modernist buildings, but are now trying to preserve them and use the historic architecture as an asset. The Peterson Property-owned Simms is a great example. It also uses a Mad Men-like campaign to market the building.

But unlike Simms, Goldstein said there are other modernist buildings that are vacant and being neglected.

“We worried as a class that if we don’t bring attention to these buildings, they’re not going to be around for very long because there’s no recognition that they’re important enough to save,” Goldstein said.

One example is the Solar Building, located at 213 Truman St. SE, which was the first active solar heated commercial building in the world. Built in 1956 for the engineering firm Bridgers & Paxton, the building was ahead of its time and was recognized by Life Magazine as an engineering accomplishment.

Today the building is vacant and the solar panels that made it so unique have been covered up.

By: Stephanie Guzman (Albuquerque Business First)
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A couple months after passing the city’s first food truck ordinance, which said food trucks can’t park within 100 feet of a brick-and-mortar restaurant, mobile food businesses complained they were starved for spots.
Albuquerque City Councilor Isaac Benton said food trucks expressed difficulty parking Downtown, his district, where spaces were few and far between.
Food trucks will be allowed to park within 75ft of restaurants. Photo by: John West
So he proposed shorting the distance from 100 feet to 75 feet.

“In a crowded place like Downtown, the 75 foot buffer made a few spots along the street possible to set up where they had not been able to set up in the past,” Benton said.

That proposed ordinance change passed during the Albuquerque City Council meeting Monday night. The change also allows food trucks to park in front of restaurants when the restaurant is closed. This is especially applicable to Downtown eateries, some which close early and don’t serve dinner. Food trucks can park in front of open restaurants if they have permission from the owner.

Though the changes to the ordinance was seen as a minor fix, it’s clear the food truck ordinance debate isn’t over.

Several Downtown restaurant owners expressed concern with the entire ordinance, which was originally passed in September.

The owner of Last Call, Luis Enrique Valdovinos, said he had concerns about shortening the buffer and regulating vendors. Another Downtown restaurant owner said he was never properly informed of the food truck ordinance in the first place.

City councilor Ken Sanchez, who was the only councilor to vote against the ordinance changes, said while competition is good, the thought is the city should protect established restaurant owners.

“While we want to welcome mobile food units where they can make a living, we need to protect those owners who have been in business for a long time,” Sanchez said.

By: Stephanie Guzman (Albuquerque Business First)

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