Boutique hotel, food court planned in major redevelopment of historic Los Alamos building

Los Alamos, widely known as the birthplace of the atomic bomb, is set to welcome a new project — a redevelopment that locals hope will revitalize the New Mexico mountain city’s core.

The owner of a historic property situated along Los Alamos’ main street at 1735 Central is partnering with a Chicago-based developer to bring the long-vacant building back to life with a major renovation, commercial real estate firm Colliers announced in a news release in November.

Colliers is handling the leasing for the project, slated to include a food court, performance venue, bakery cafe, retail storefront and vendor spaces, a 22-room boutique hotel, and a rooftop bar and restaurant.

“There’s certainly been a community push to get something cool and fun in that building,” said Jyl DeHaven, a Los Alamos resident and vice president of Colliers’ northern New Mexico operations. “All the partners came together and the math looks like it’s going to work, so here we go. It’ll be a great project.”

The redevelopment project has received interest, but no tenants have signed so far, DeHaven said. She and the developer are letting the market determine how the project takes shape, first looking to see which local tenants express interest and then going from there.

“We’re going to work hard to be complementary to what’s here,” DeHaven said. “We’re going to try to do a New Mexico True store, maybe some Amazon locker space — just a true urban fill out.”

The developer, 1735 Central Investments LLC, will begin construction work on the 28,000-square-foot building in the spring. The LLC is the result of a partnership between Chicago-based development group Specialized Capital Partners LLC and the building’s owner, whom DeHaven declined to name but said operates as Tigard Pacific RE LLC.

Specialized Capital Partners discovered the property roughly four years ago after a Santa Fe project the group bid on fell through, and DeHaven suggested they turn their attention to Los Alamos, said Steven Miszkowicz, president of Southwest Capital Partners.

“I see a large, shuttered building and I was like, ‘How can this be sitting here, in an area that has such a dire need for development?’” Miszkowicz said.

The federal government built the property in the early 1950s. The building eventually became a movie theater and was most recently used as a furniture store with retail shops on the ground floor, DeHaven said.

The building’s owner approached Southwest Capital Partners earlier this year seeking to sell the building, but the group posed the idea of coming together to repurpose the building through a joint venture instead.

The redevelopment will be Southwest Capital Partners’ first mixed-use project, as well as its first in New Mexico. Miszkowicz said Albuquerque’s Sawmill Market and a similar development in Chicago called Fulton Market District are sources of inspiration for the Los Alamos project.

“There’s nothing like that for Los Alamos, and I think Los Alamos would embrace it quite well,” Miszkowicz said.

Rehabbing the two-story building will require a full gut job, one that the developer hopes to complete in two years. Miszkowicz declined to share the estimated cost of the project, as the developer is still accepting bids, but said it could benefit from state economic development funding.

The developer expects the project to create roughly 25 full-time jobs when completed. Those involved with the project think it will also support job retention throughout Los Alamos.

“We see this as a key part of helping (Los Alamos National Laboratories) retain the talent they recruit,” Miszkowicz said. “We’re hoping this is the gathering and social place to allow people to meet and develop relationships beyond just what they do during work.”

The redevelopment will also serve as a venue for the community to hold events, DeHaven said. She thinks the performance and retail potential of the new space will allow the community to tap into and showcase more of their musical talents and hobbies.

“I personally think it’s going to change the whole energy of this town,” DeHaven said. “When you have something fun to stay downtown for, everybody benefits from that.”