• Jan 22, 2017 Plan unveiled for downtown office plaza
    Gary Sandler
    No Comments | 0 likes | 2,286 Viewers

    Published 22 January 2017

    LAS CRUCES – After sitting vacant and partially remodeled for more than 10-years, the former office complex at 430 S. Main Street will soon take on a new life.

    “The site will be the home of a fabulous restaurant, office and retail complex,” according to Doug Wright and Bob Pofahl, respectively the lead developer and managing partner of Las Cruces Community Partners, LLC, the group renovating the space.

    “LCCP will begin redeveloping the old courthouse once Water and Church streets have been converted to two-way traffic,” Pofahl said.  He estimates the cost of the project will be in the $1.5 million to $2 million range.

    The city will begin the two-way conversion of Water Street and Church Street, as well as the reconstruction of Las Cruces Avenue from Water Street to Church Street and Griggs Avenue from Water Street to Church Street, later this year, according to city officials.

    According to LCCP partners Pofahl, Steve Newby, Eddie Martinez, Wright and Wright’s partner, Tom Paul, the working name of the project is The Amador Plaza. Conceptual plans show that a restaurant space will occupy approximately one-third of the 9,600 square foot site, with retail and office space utilizing another 4,800 square feet. The project will be ringed by approximately 1,600 square feet of covered and open outdoor patio space, with parking for 45 vehicles. Development is slated to begin this summer, with completion anticipated by the end of the year. Leasing of the spaces will begin immediately.

    Floor plan for the redeveloped site at the corner of

     

    The building, located at the southwest corner of Amador Avenue and South Main Street, was built by Mr. and  Mrs. J.A Ikard in 1971 and subsequently sold to Citizen’s Bank in 1982. It was occupied by the bank and a number of other businesses until it was purchased by Doña Ana County in 1986. The county utilized the building until May 2006, when the new County Government Center opened for business on Motel Boulevard.

    The county ultimately sold the building and the old Doña Ana County Courthouse to John Hoffman of El Paso in January 2008. Hoffman began updating both properties, but halted the projects when disagreements arose over some of the city’s municipal building code requirements. The stalemate continued until 2013, when Hoffman struck a long-term development deal with LCCP. After many months of due diligence efforts, LCCP finally took possession of the properties in November of 2016.

    LCCP is also the driving force behind the redevelopment of the old courthouse. The historic building, which sits directly west of the Amador Plaza project, will soon be transformed into a four-star hotel. “The vision for the hotel is to create something similar to the Inn at Loretto in Santa Fe or the Hotel Parq Central in Albuquerque, where the building’s history is preserved throughout the redevelopment process”, Pofahl said in a previous interview. The property, built in 1937, will retain its designation on the state’s historic registry. Total cost of the hotel project is projected to be in the $22 to $24 million range.

    Millions of additional dollars will soon be spent on other downtown development projects, such as the $6.5 million, multi-tiered restaurant complex now in the early stages of construction on the former site of My Brother’s Place restaurant. When complete,  The Amador, a retail facility that will include a restaurant, bar, coffee shop, entertainment venue, will also serve as the new headquarters for the Las Cruces Convention and Visitors Bureau.

    “The LCCP, along with the Downtown Las Cruces Partnership and the city, have been receiving a steady flow of inquiries from restaurateurs, retailers and others who are interested in establishing, expanding or moving their businesses to downtown Las Cruces”, Newby said. It is becoming apparent that word of the opportunities downtown has to offer is becoming less and less of a secret with each passing day.

    Arianna Parsons, executive director of the Downtown Las Cruces Partnership, agreed. The building has long been a focal point, and not always a positive one, for the downtown area in recent years.

    “I would say that in my tenure as executive director, I’ve never received as many questions about a specific project as that building,” Parsons said. “This is clearly something people’s eyes go straight to by renovating the building, we will be signaling important, positive changes downtown.”

    See you at closing.

    Gary Sandler is a full-time Realtor and president of Gary Sandler Inc., Realtors in Las Cruces. He can be reached at 575-642-2292 or Gary@GarySandler.com.

    Pictured is the Amador Plaza on Tuesday, January 17,

    About author

    • About Author

      Gary Sandler