Wednesday, April 19, 2023ABQ Build-Out: Scores of Construction Projects On Tap As City Finally Looks Forward, Plus: ABQ's Capital Outlay Take; Too Little For The Big City? This week the ABQ City Council approved $200 million in bonds for voters to decide at the November election. Believed to be the largest such issue ever, the amount is not that jaw-dropping, given the high rate of inflation and the pressing needs of a city well into middle age and some sections deep into old age. The bond package is routinely approved by voters and this one is expected to be no different. There wasn't too much infighting over the bonds. Tempers did flare when the Council initially stripped money for a long-planned education center at the ABQ Museum which under current leadership is having a revival and generating excitement. The money was mostly restored. There was also a $4 million bond approved to move the Unser Museum into the city from Los Ranchos, even as questions linger over that facility becoming an anachronism. It receives few visitors. There were also some warnings from the peanut gallery over another $2 million going into the very expensive renovation of the historic Barelas/Downtown Rail Yards. Fears of a black hole are developing, even as some promising green shoots pop up there like the plans for a new NM Film Academy. Roads always grab a large chunk of a city bond issue in car-happy ABQ. For this cycle it's $44 million or nearly 25 percent of the total package. The Gateway Center for the homeless including a new sobering facility will get $5 million. The total cost of taking over the old Lovelace Medical Center in the SE Heights is now a stunning $75 million which renews pleas from yer little ol' blog that city leaders start building new stuff--not renovating the old stuff. Still, the Gate (our nickname) is essential for the quality of life here and the oil boom has made it easier for the state to help out. Here is an in-depth summary of the 2023 ABQ bonds from Mayor Keller's office--written before amendments that were made by Council Monday night. BEST IDEA
One of the best ideas being employed here and in other cities like Los Angeles is the conversion into apartments of older hotel and motel rooms dotting historic Route 66 and other parts of the city: . . .Keller said the city is turning the closed SureStay Hotel at Eubank and Lomas into an affordable housing complex with 100 one-bedroom units. The property cost the city close to $6 million, with another $3-4 million earmarked for renovations. City officials said converting the property is much cheaper than building from scratch. “If we wanted to build a new 100-unit apartment community, it would cost between $20 and $25 million,” said Dan Jiron, with the Family and Community Services Department. . .Keller says: "This is going to be sustainable housing. It’s going to be much better than transient hotel situations we’ve had in this area.” That $10 million price tag works out to about $100,000 a unit. That's not pocket change but in a city needing to play catch up from income inequality that put the housing market out of reach for so many, it is more than necessary. The city hopes to eventually convert 5,000 hotel and motel rooms into apartments. The conversions are not without their critics so the support of the Governor has been welcomed by city leaders. MLG supported the project with $3 million through the Casa Connection Grant Program. EVEN MORE BUILDING  But city leaders made no complaints as they released the specifics of the goodies the city will enjoy. They said that the $100 million is 43 percent higher than the 2022 number. That year's capital outlay bill was $828 million and the city's share came in at about 7 percent. This was the first year in two decades that the Speaker of the House--Rep. Javier Martinez--came from ABQ. He was elected at the start of the session. Here are the ABQ capital projects: Public Safety
· Southeast Area APD facilities - $1,500,000
· Southwest Public Safety Center - $2,985,000
· Coronado Park Fire Rescue Training and Response Center - $5,225,000
· Westside & Eastside Animal Shelters - $1,480,000 Housing and Homelessness
· Gateway Center, medical respite facility, sobering center and first responder drop-off - $9,926,490
· Construction of affordable housing - $6,460,810*
· Albuquerque Youth Shelter - $1,558,490
· Preschool facility construction for families experiencing homelessness - $1,356,490
Placemaking
· Facilities for youth programs - $1,091,490
· Albuquerque Museum Education Center - $1,440,000
· Redevelopment for the Walmart on San Mateo and Zuni - $1,965,000
· Explora Science Center and Children’s Museum - $2,223,114
· Performing Arts and Education Center - $2,900,000
· Alameda Pedestrian Trail - $3,000,000
· Balloon Fiesta Park landing sites and improvements – $7,315,000
· North Domingo Baca Aquatics Center - $6,165,000 In addition to that nearly $10 million for the Gateway Center for the homeless, the city's 2023 budget includes $12.6 million to operate it. And as we mentioned earlier, officials are now putting the total construction cost of the Gate--including dreaded asbestos clean-up at $75 million. Getting people off the streets and chipping away at a drug epidemic does not come cheap. FORWARD ABQ It has been rough sledding for over 10 years for ABQ. Readers of this blog know that better than most, but with the $200 million bond issue, the hotel conversions, the Gateway Center, the Film Academy and the state capital outlay projects, there's reason to believe ABQ is regaining its footing and able to look to the future and shake off the stagnant past. THE BOTTOM LINES  I received this message: “Hello, this is ___ inviting you to a fund raising event for Senator Heinrich’s re-election. Meantime, a Dem operative comes with a higher total for Heinrich's first quarter fundraising than we had. We quoted $888,000 from the FEC report but his "total contributions" including PAC's came in at $1.163 million. . . And we appreciate reader Sarah providing us with a plausible excuse when it comes to our incorrect statement that Dem Rep. Gabe Vasquez was elected two years ago when he was elected just this past November. Sarah wrote: The political cycle never seems to end, just like the news never ends now on cable TV, but it wasn’t all that long ago. Vasquez only just got sworn in this past January. A never ending news cycle combines with the never ending tales of La Politica. Whew. No ten lashes with the wet noodle for our minor infractions, instead we'll take ten deep breaths. This is the home of New Mexico politics. E-mail your news and comments. (newsguy@yahoo.com) Interested in reaching New Mexico's most informed audience? Advertise here.   (c)NM POLITICS WITH JOE MONAHAN 2023 |
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