For years, people have been watching the vacant former First Baptist Church across the tracks from Downtown Albuquerque, though they’ve been watching it for all the wrong reasons. Graffiti, trash, vandalism and vagrants have plagued the site, as is the case with many vacant structures in this city and others. But these particular seven acres and its current 305,000 square feet of buildings sit at one of the most visible city intersections — Broadway Boulevard and Central Avenue — a spot technically in East Downtown, but from a branding perspective is squarely part of the Downtown corridor.
And it’s Downtown that has Mayor Richard Berry‘s laser focus. Downtown is also on the minds of other public officials, including University of New Mexico president Bob Frank.
But even more eyeballs are on this site now, because its sale last year to UNM makes it the future home of Innovate ABQ — a high-tech incubator initiative between UNM and the public and private sectors. Real estate executives, brokers and developers are now extremely interested in what will be the first phase of the project — one many say the future of Albuquerque’s job growth hangs on.
That’s led to more speculation, as some wonder whether any developers or teams in New Mexico actually have the expertise to tackle a project like Innovate ABQ. Those worries are a reflection of a larger skills-gap problem business leaders say the city and state continue to grapple with, and the stakes are higher than ever. With potential to reinvent entrepreneurship here, as well as be the catalyst that helps Downtown finally turn the corner economically, the impact of finding people who can execute the project’s master plan extend well beyond the walls of the former First Baptist Church.
“I do believe that we in Albuquerque oftentimes think that because someone is from outside of the state, they are automatically an expert or are more skilled than our local players,” said Scott W. Throckmorton, president of ARGUS Investment Realty. “I guess it’s a kind of inferiority complex.”
“I remain very excited about the potential for this project to contribute to revitalizing Downtown and rebuild our economy by focusing on innovation and entrepreneurship,” said Dale Dekker, who is the principal of Dekker/Perich/Sabatini and a consultant on the project with David Green, who is a planner with Perkins+Will. “It’s part of the puzzle of building an ecosystem that is fundamental to growing a healthy private sector. We’re doing all the right things there, taking our time.”
Dekker said Innovate ABQ is one of the most significant projects his firm has ever been involved in.
Because he is a consultant on the project, Dekker didn’t respond to the Innovate ABQ board’s recent request for interest and qualifications for those interested in development partnerships with UNM, which owns the site. Throckmorton has been one of the more active city developers in recent years, but he said he too did not respond to the Innovate ABQ development request. That request has now closed, and who submitted and will rise to the top should be known soon.
Jim Chynoweth, the managing director of CBRE New Mexico, said the state has very talented developers and real estate service providers. “However,” he added, “the market has not provided much opportunity for experience at the local level for projects like Innovate ABQ. Experience reduces risk, which will be the name of the game. Out-of-state developers typically don’t have much experience in doing projects in Albuquerque; therefore it is likely this project will need a combination of outside and local real estate service providers in order to be successful.”
By: Damon Scott (Albuquerque Business First)
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