New retail, auto development planned for vacant lot near Cliff’s Amusement Park

A fresh retail project is in the works for an area of Albuquerque where opportunities for new developments are hard to come by.

Daskalos Development and Investments and Unisus Development, the development arm of Pegasus Group, are joining forces to bring a new mixed-use retail development across the street from Cliff’s Amusement Park.

The development, entailing a 5,600-square-foot retail strip and a 10,000-square-foot auto complex, will be built on a vacant lot at 6000 San Mateo NE, said AJ Johnson, associate broker and vice president of Pegasus Group. The two groups acquired the property in February.

The Albuquerque-based real estate groups are currently in the permitting phase of the project and expect to break ground on the project later this year with the hopes of finishing it next summer, Johnson said. He estimates the cost of development will be somewhere around $5 million.

“(We’re) excited that this will offer just a new retail shopping experience for the San Mateo corridor,” Johnson said.

The retail portion of the project will feature three tenants, none of which have yet been secured, but the group is in negotiations with a new-to-market coffee group for a space that will come with a drive-thru, Johnson said.

The auto complex will house a local car garage business and 712 Auto Sales, a local dealership that is already operational at a property next to where the project will be built.

The local dealership will use 6,000 square feet of the new 10,000-square-foot complex as its service department, while the local car garage group will take up the remaining 4,000 square feet.

Daskalos and Unisus have partnered on several projects over the years, but the rarity of this particular project is “very exciting,” Johnson said.

With high demand for real estate in the area, paired with little land to develop, new developments often can’t occur without tearing something down or getting creative, Johnson said.

“It’s pretty rare to find a lot that size that’s prime for development (in the area),” Johnson said.

Johnson said he hopes the new development will inspire improved retail design in the area, where “a lot of tired, older buildings” currently reside.

“I think it will attract and offer new amenities... that the community just has not seen before,” Johnson said.