Heritage Cos. purchases Plaza Hacienda property in Old Town

Heritage Cos. is adding yet another culturally significant property to its portfolio with the purchase of a historic Old Town property.

That property is the Plaza Hacienda, located on the east side of the Old Town Plaza and south of the Albuquerque Museum. Heritage purchased the more than 24,000-square-foot property in a deal that closed on Friday, Heritage Cos. Founder and CEO Jim Long told the Journal.

“The Heritage Companies is delighted to acquire this historic and significant property in the heart of historic Old Town,” Long said via email.

The Plaza Hacienda acquisition comes as Heritage is making headway on an Old Town-adjacent project. The Albuquerque City Council in June approved three industrial revenue bonds that will provide tax breaks for a Heritage project bringing a new hotel, extended-stay suites and an apartment-retail complex to the Sawmill District.

“We like the direction that Old Town is headed,” Long said, adding it’s partly due to the strong leadership the Historic Old Town Association is “now providing the area.”

In the past, Long said there were several associations that had differing ideas on how to improve, grow and promote Old Town. He said, today, there is one association — led by President J.J. Mancini, who is also the chief information officer for Heritage Cos.

Old Town, Albuquerque’s first neighborhood, according to a Visit Albuquerque webpage, was established in 1706 when a group of Spanish families settled there. The first structures built were the San Felipe de Neri Church — built in 1793 after the original structure collapsed — and the buildings surrounding the Old Town Plaza, including the Plaza Hacienda buildings.

At the time, these spaces served as homes, shops and government buildings. Today, they house more than 100 shops, galleries and restaurants, the Visit Albuquerque webpage says.

The Plaza Hacienda property, which encompasses multiple buildings spanning more than two acres, is currently home to several shops and galleries such as Tiny Grocer and Gallery 8, according to Long.

“It’s a versatile portfolio right off the plaza. There’s some great historical relevance to the buildings. It’s a staple for Old Town,” said Alex Pulliam, an NAI SunVista agent who co-facilitated the sale with Jim Wible and Riley McKee.

Long said Heritage plans to study the site and develop an “exciting future plan” for it. Long said the companies are “very open” to what is developed and will work with many designers and planners to “uncover the best opportunity for the site.”

One of those partners is architect and urban planner Stefanos Polyzoides. He was behind master plans for other local projects, including Sawmill District, the Theater block in Downtown Albuquerque, Sawmill Land Trust and Los Poblanos Inn, Long said.

Heritage will plan the future improvements of the property through collaboration with the Historic Old Town Association and the city of Albuquerque’s Landmarks Commission, Long said.

Long declined to share what Heritage acquired the Hacienda property for, but said the lender was Southwest Capital Bank.

The Hacienda property was not on the market when Long reached out to inquire about purchasing it, but it had been previously for about six months in 2022, Wible said. He added that the property saw offer activity, but the investment market slowed after interest rates went up.

The property’s former owner, Joyce Battaglia, acquired the property with her husband, Mark Battaglia, in the early 1990s. Mark died shortly after, leaving his cousins in charge; Joyce has managed the property since 2012.

“She loved the people, she loved the place,” said Drew Jones, the family’s attorney. “Whether they love it or not, there’s always a beginning and there’s always an end. ... So I just think she thought it was time.”