New Uptown Transit Center to include 400 apartments, retail space
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An expanded transit center and at least 400 apartments are coming to Uptown, with $25 million in federal funding. Half of the apartments will be affordable housing and the other half will be at market rate.
The project is designed to make it easier for people to get to Uptown and to live in the area, by adding more housing and expanding the Uptown Transit Center. The transit station is the end of the line for the sa国际传媒官网网页入口 Rapid Transit 766 route, one of the most frequent bus services offered in the city, said Transit Director Leslie Keener.
鈥淲e work in a half-mile radius,鈥� said Lawrence Kline, principal project planner. 鈥淭hat鈥檚 about the average distance we think people will walk to get transit. So, within a half a mile of here, there are 13,000 jobs and only 100 people who both live and work within Uptown. So that means every day, 13,000 people are coming in from everywhere else. Why not let them live here, work here, ride the bus to (the University of New Mexico) or to Presbyterian?鈥�
sa国际传媒官网网页入口 Mayor Tim Keller announced the project, along with Democratic U.S. Sens. Martin Heinrich and Ben Ray Luj谩n and Mitch Landrieu, President Biden鈥檚 senior adviser and infrastructure coordinator, in a news conference Thursday. The funding comes through the Rebuilding American Infrastructure with Sustainability and Equity Program, funded by the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law.
鈥淭his is an investment in infrastructure that we have not seen in the United States of America since the interstate highway system was created, and this is what鈥檚 going to make us competitive in this very competitive world for years to come,鈥� Heinrich said.
The Uptown Connect project is a public-private partnership. Developer Palindrome, which previously developed the El Vado Motel, is working with the city and will be building about 400 apartments, said Carrie Barkhurst, a senior planner with the city鈥檚 Transit Department.
鈥淲e can say we want these things, but if the market doesn鈥檛 respond, we don鈥檛 usually have that much leverage,鈥� Barkhurst said. 鈥淚n this case, because of the federal grant to buy the property and we said we want to do this joint development, that鈥檚 what got us in the door to ask for more federal funds for this project.鈥�
The project includes building six bus docks with protected waiting areas, signage, security features, lighting, electric charging stations and underground parking. There will also be spaces for retail businesses. The existing Nusenda Credit Union will shift locations so that it remains next to the transit station. Underground parking will be added with at least 400 spaces.
Construction is expected to begin in April 2025 and may be complete in 2027, according to transit department staff.
鈥淏ringing people to the project and bringing retail and commercial is just going to make this area so vibrant and make it the urban center that we always wanted,鈥� Barkhurst said.
Cathy Cook covers retail, commercial real estate and tourism for the sa国际传媒官网网页入口.
