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Monday, March 10, 2008

After Five Years of Slow but Steady Progress, Construction Is Ready to Explode This Year at Mesa del Sol

By Richard Metcalf
Copyright © 2008 Albuquerque Journal; Journal Staff Writer
    Forest City Covington says more than $500 million in private investment, including $60 million in company equity, has already been committed to Mesa del Sol, which is coming out of the ground in a major way this year south of the Sunport.
    Since the original development deal was announced in 2002, Forest City spent three years on behind-the-scenes work.
    "One of the things that took us so long was, quite frankly, preparation," Forest City Covington president Michael Daly said.
    In 2005, the first sign of physical progress was construction to extend University Boulevard from the airport area to Mesa del Sol. The road was completed in October 2006.
    Forest City closed on its $9.5 million purchase of 3,000 acres from the University of New Mexico in 2006. The land represents Mesa del Sol's first phase, with a 15-year build out.
    Local startup Advent Solar has already occupied the first 87,000-square-foot building at Mesa del Sol's Innovation Park since the fall of 2006.
    Innovation Park is the name given to the initial 200 acres of land zoned for commercial uses.
    Advent, which makes solar cells based on technology developed at Sandia National Laboratories, has about 160 employees. It plans to grow to as many as 1,000 by 2010.
    "Advent Solar (building) was built with cash," Daly said. "We didn't have a bank loan yet."
    Mesa del Sol's second company was 168,000-square-foot Albuquerque Studios, owned by Santa Monica, Calif.-based Pacifica Ventures and the state's first soundstage facility.
    Employment at the Studios— opened in the spring of 2007— can range up to 2,000 depending on the film production schedule.
   
Fidelity under way
    Site work began a month ago on Fidelity Investments' $27 million office building.
    The building will be completed in two phases. About 116,000 square feet will be ready in December, while the remaining 100,000 square feet will be ready in March 2009, said Chris Anderson, director of commercial development at Forest City.
    In the meantime, Fidelity will launch its operation to offer human resource services to corporate clients this summer at a temporary office.
    The company will start with about 250 employees and expand to 1,250.
   
Imageworks on track
    Site work is also under way on the two-story, $6 million Sony Imageworks building, with completion expected in September, Anderson said.
    The 50,000-square-foot building is the first phase. In the next two years, a 15,000-square-foot data center and second 35,000-square-foot office building will be built as the second phase of Sony's campus, he said.
    Sony expects to employ 100 at first, then gradually expand to 300 to 400.
   
Schott on its own
    Schott, which purchased 80 acres at Mesa del Sol, broke ground last Monday on its manufacturing plant. The state Land Office says it still owns the land, but Schott officials say that's just a technicality. Sealed bids are to be opened April 4.
    The building will have about 15,000 square feet of offices and 175,000 square feet of production space, said company spokesman Brian Lynch.
    Production space will be divided into two general functions:
   

115,000 square feet for making solar receivers, with production starting in April 2009.
   

60,000 square feet for making photovoltaic modules, with production starting in March 2009.
    Construction costs are a small part of Schott's initial $100 million investment in the Mesa del Sol plant, Lynch said. Most of the money will go to equipping the plant and startup labor costs, he said.
    Schott expects to hire 350 workers.
    With 80 acres, the company has the room to expand by 600,000 square feet and add another 1,150 employees in the future.
   
Keeping it local
    Forest City is awarding work on its projects almost entirely to Albuquerque-based contractors.
    "One of our philosophies is to keep those construction dollars here in the local community whenever possible," Anderson said.
    Klinger Constructors, which built the Advent Solar building, is the general contractor for the town center and Fidelity buildings. Enterprise Builders Corp. is the general contractor for the Sony building.
    Both the Fidelity and Sony buildings were designed by Dekker Perich Sabatini, a local architectural and planning firm.
    Also working on both the Fidelity and Sony buildings are local companies Chaparral Electric Co., Hanna Plumbing & Heating Co. and Mechanical Concepts.
   
Grand housing plans
    Housing will follow the jobs being created at Innovation Park.
    About 35 model homes are expected to be ready by May 2009 in the area immediately southwest of the town center.
    A projected 350 houses will be built during the following 12 months, with the construction pace increasing to 600 each subsequent year, said Amy Coburn, director of residential development at Forest City.
    A mix of residential units is planned in the opening phase, ranging from higher-density townhouses and clustered homes to more traditional single-family housing.
    The houses will range in size from 950 to 4,000 square feet, with most being two stories. Prices will range roughly from $160,000 to $600,000.
    "We don't set the prices; the builders will," Coburn said.
    Forest City will pick six home builders by early June and provide them with a 150-page design manual. The builders will design, build and sell their own versions of the different housing types, she said.
    By the end of this year, the subdivision lots should be ready for the builders to start construction, Coburn said.
   
Additional plans
    Forest City will develop the lion's share of Mesa del Sol.
    In addition to the 3,000 acres purchased from UNM, the company basically has an option to buy another 6,000 acres currently held in a state land trust.
    Uses of the remaining 3,900 acres are:
   

The 600-acre Bernalillo County Regional Recreation Center, where Journal Pavilion, an outdoor concert venue, is located.
    A state equestrian center, featuring a 600-seat indoor arena, is planned on the county land.
   

UNM has retained ownership of 480 acres for a potential future campus in the middle of Forest City's first phase.
   

The remaining 2,900 acres have been designated a nature preserve and environmental education center called La Semilla. The land is at the east end of Mesa del Sol and serves as a buffer with neighboring Kirtland Air Force Base.
    On the Mesa
    Major construction projects getting under way at Mesa del Sol this year are:
   

A two-story, 216,000-square-foot office building for Boston-based Fidelity Investments, a global financial services company.
   

A 190,000-square-foot manufacturing plant for Schott Solar, a company based in Germany with its U.S. headquarters in Sacramento.
   

A 78,000-square-foot retail and office building which, in addition to providing space for Forest City, will house support services for Mesa del Sol's growing employment base.
   

A 50,000-square-foot office building for Sony Pictures Imageworks, a special effects and character animation company for the film industry.
    Fidelity, Schott and Sony will bring 700 or more jobs in the next 12 to 15 months. Upward of 2,300 jobs would be added with future expansions.