A restaurant, taproom and coffee shop under one roof are planned as the first step in development of UNM's South Campus Sports and Entertainment District. The Lobo Development Corporation (LDC) has selected Marble Development as the developer of the project on the southeast corner of University Blvd. and Avenida Caesar Chavez. Negotiations on a ground lease will begin immediately.
The project is a collaboration between Santa fe Dining and Marble Brewery. Initial plans proposed by Marble Development include a food-oriented retail and entertainment concept with approximately 13,000 square feet of enclosed space, 15,000 square feet of covered courtyard areas and approximately 30,000 square feet of open area designated for use as parking and festival space.
The total proposed developed site area is approximately 1.4 acres. Santa Fe Dining already operates restaurants in Santa Fe and Albuquerque that include Blue Corn Café, La Casa Sena, Rio Chama, Chama River, Rooftop Pizzeria, Blue Corn Brewery, Maria’s and Draft Station.
“We’ve been working on this project for a long time,” said Lobo Development Chair James H. Koch. “We look forward to working with this company. Hopefully in the next 30 days or so we will be voting on a contract.”
Marble Development was one of five original respondents to a request for proposals issued last October. Three development groups made presentations to a selection committee, which recommended the Marble Development proposal. The Lobo Development board voted to pursue that proposal.
The Lobo Development Corporation, a UNM Regent-owned, non-profit corporation created under the University Research Park and Economic Development Act, for the purpose of facilitating non-traditional commercial real-estate development which advance the goals of the University and generates economic activity for the community. UNM Planning and Campus Design has created a master plan for the UNM South Campus, which is available on the LDC website.
The land being considered for development is currently used for parking at University Stadium, Wise Pies Arena and by the Isotopes Baseball Park. UNM Vice President for Athletics Paul Krebs is a member of LDC and is working to ensure Lobo fans have adequate parking available to them.
Once negotiation of the ground lease is complete, the project will go to the LDC Board and Board of Regents for approval.
For more information, contact Thomas Neale, director of UNM Real Estate and LDC director of Financial Transactions at 505-277-4620 or tneale@unm.edu; or Keelie Garcia, administrative operation managers for LDC at 505-925-1600, keelie@unm.edu