September Meeting Minutes

6:30pm | Preservation Station | Bonnie Anderson presiding | Prepared by Secretary Howard Dobin

APD Report

No representative from APD attended.

501/601 Central Ave NE

David Blanc introduced his team to present the current concepts for developing the two parking lots he owns. The City Council has denied his efforts to build townhouses on the lots in favor of maximizing density of residential properties. Project designer Bob Hall and his assistants shared printouts of the current conceptual designs for the two buildings which will provide affordable, market rate housing.

The building at 501 Central (formerly the Pop 'N Taco) is planned to be five stories with 44 units, while the structure on 601 Central is projected to have 68 units. The apartments will be one-bedrooms (≈650-750 sqft) and efficiencies (≈500 sqft). Each structure has its own unique footprints, but within the buildings the floor plans for each residential floor will be identical to all the other residential floors in the building. The buildings are rectangular with each having two stairways, one elevator and fenced parking. There will be a visual buffer screen on the 1st floor of the buildings that will be otherwise open to the elements.

New Mexico’s Mortgage Finance Authority (MFA) issues tax credits for buildings with affordable rents for individuals in certain income brackets. For example, rentals for those who fall within the Area Median Income can be up to 80% of $900 for a one-bedroom.

Variances will need to be approved since the buildings as proposed would exceed height limits, required set-back to the parking lot and is short about five parking spaces.

Bob shared that the project does not need to go before the Landmarks Commission. The first step will be to consolidate each of the plots into single plats. This process will take six months or more. It is anticipated that there will be 1-1½ years of construction once the project is approved.

Election of Officers

At the Annual Election in August the following people were reelected to the HHHDA board for a term to end in August 2026: Ann Carson, Fiona Cooke, Howard Dobin, Kathy Grassel, Ruth Lantry, Salley Trefethen and David Tanner.

With all current officers interested in retaining their current roles and no one expressing an interest in challenging their positions the officers will remain the same in 2024-5 and they were in 2023-4: Bonnie Anderson, President; Moises Gonzalez, Vice President; Salley Trefethen, Treasurer; Howard Dobin, Secretary.

100 Arno Street Garage

Kevin Hillskemper and Howard Dobin are working on addressing ongoing issues at the city-owned garage at 100 Arno St NE. Recently there was an extended period, close to 30 days, where the doors of the garage remained open leading to 4 burglary and vandalism events. There have been instances of people not being able to access the elevator lobby entrance since the installation of a new fob reader after the previous reader was destroyed by vandalism. Howard asked for formal recognition of their work as a committee under the auspices of HHHDA which would be co-chaired by Kevin and Howard. The board passed the motion.

Central At-Grade Crossing

Howard Dobin followed up on concerns raised at the annual meeting about lighting and security related to the detour to use the RailRunner during construction. Terry Brunner from MRA was contacted and Howard will seek an update from him before the next meeting on the promise of using the existing railroad security and adding lighting. Kevin Hillskemper has observed that construction on the overpass appears to have stopped. Howard will contact to Terry to ascertain the status of construction.

Lead/Coal Avenues Project

Ben Sturge reported on a possible project to change traffic patterns on both Lead and Coal Avenues from Broadway to Washington. These appear to include ideas to lower the speed limits to 25mph, narrowing the roads to one lane from the current two lanes, or changing the avenues from one-way to two-way traffic. Some of these proposals have been advanced by the Nob Hill and University Heights neighborhoods. It is the consensus of the gathered that traffic on both Lead and Coal has improved with the recent addition of traffic lights. There will be a city meeting downtown on Thursday September 5th regarding the project. Ben recommended those concerned to attend the meeting and offer documents relating to the project to those that might be interested. It would be best for those interested in attending the meeting to be educated on the issues prior to attending. A final recommendation is currently planned for January 2025.

Vacant Properties

Bonnie Anderson asked the assembled to forward any vacant property address to her so that we can share them with Damien Lara, Bernalillo County Assessor. Sadly, problem properties that are occupied must be addressed to the residents of those properties.

Holiday Hijinks 2024

Fiona Cooke continues to seek help with legwork and donations to have the maximum number of people and businesses put their goods, services and skills up for bid at our 2nd annual auction, scheduled for Saturday December 14th at the Albuquerque Press Club. Any goods or services will be welcomed, big or small.

Other Issues

Acting on ideas to spend our funds are being tabled as the board examines the possibility of our being gifted the historic gas station at which we conduct our meetings. There may be unforeseen expenses involved in maintaining the structure, so we will reserve funds until this issue is clearer.

Attendees have noticed that recent minutes have not been posted on our website. Nick volunteered to step in as acting webmaster if his expertise would be of service.