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Monday, October 11, 2010
Secrecy Surrounds Mesa del Sol Buildings
By Richard Metcalf
Of the Journal
Construction is well under way on a two-story, 33,000-square-foot office building at Mesa del Sol for the Drug Enforcement Administration, with construction expected to begin soon on a second, larger 72,000-square-foot building for the Bureau of Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
The two buildings, which have a combined construction cost of close to $10 million, are build-to-suit projects under the auspices of the General Services Administration, which is being very secretive about them. The GSA did not respond to an e-mailed request for information on the projects.
Forest City Covington, the developer of the 12,900-acre Mesa del Sol master-planned community, is also under something of a gag order.
The DEA building is on University SE next to the former Advent Solar building, while the ICE building will be on Cricks Crossing SE next to the Fidelity Investments building.
If it weren't for the secrecy, the projects would be touted for the several hundred construction jobs that they are sustaining in this time of slow activity. In addition, the two agencies within the Department of Homeland Security will also be expanding their spaces when they move to the new buildings. More space could translate to more jobs, but no one is talking.
The DEA currently leases 15,928 square feet at 301 Martin Luther King Jr. NE. ICE's main office is in 7,977 square feet at 5700 Harper NE.
Tough sledding
Albuquerque ranked 248 out of 337 metros for how well its construction sector held up in August compared to a year earlier, according to an analysis of federal employment data by the Arlington, Va.-based Associated General Contractors of America.
Construction employment was down by 1,900 jobs, or a decline of 8 percent, in Albuquerque during the month compared to August 2009. The rankings are determined by percent of employment decline or gain.
The AGC reported 56 metros saw gains in construction jobs over the 12 months, including places like Kansas City, Kan.; Green Bay, Wis.; and Pittsburgh, Pa. El Paso ranked 43 with a 1 percent gain. More cities gained construction jobs in August than in any month since September 2008, the AGC noted.
Las Cruces ranked a comparatively strong 123 with the year-over-year loss of 100 construction jobs, a 3 percent decline.
Santa Fe ranked near the bottom at 230 with the year-over-year loss of 500 construction jobs, a 15 percent drop. Most of the metros at the bottom of the ranking were in California, followed by Nevada, Arizona and Utah.
Branching out
Maestas & Ward Commercial Real Estate has launched a multi-housing division, bringing on board 14-year veteran and Albuquerque native Bobby Bull as a director to run it.
The addition of an apartment brokerage division qualifies Maestas & Ward as a full-service firm. Earlier this year, the company added a business brokerage division to its menu of services in the office, industrial and retail real estate markets as well as property management.
Bull spent his 14 years in commercial real estate in Phoenix, most recently with NAI Horizon Commercial Real Estate. His move back to Albuquerque was driven in large part by his wife, the former K.C. Roehl of Albuquerque's Roehl family of lawyers, entering her first year at the University of New Mexico Law School.
While the apartment market in the Albuquerque metro area has been comparatively dormant in terms of buying and selling for the past two years, Bull pointed to the recent sale of ABQ Uptown Village apartments as a sign of new vigor in the market.
"There's still financing for apartments – that's the key: financing in the capital markets," he said. "The discount (in prices) to replacement cost is huge. You can't build for what people are selling for. There's a lack of land to build on."
Richard Metcalf covers commercial real estate for the Journal. You may reach him at 823-3972 or class="black">rmetcalf@abqjournal.com.
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