A simpler code lures developers downtown

Albuquerque overhauled its downtown development requirements about two years ago, and the simplicity of the new system has helped set off what is, by the standards of a previously somnolent downtown, a huge building boom. Moule & Polyzoides produced illustrations and building types for the 2010 Plan, which sets out 20 principles that need to be adhered to in the downtown. Santa Fe-based urban design consultant Tom Leatherwood praises the document for being “very short.” What’s key, he says, is “the elegant simplicity and fit of the downtown plan. It says things such as ‘Every building built in downtown must have doors opening on the street and windows transparent to the street.’” Each principle is stated on one page, with illustrations of what to do and what not to do. Twelve building types are authorized for construction in various sectors of the downtown, an area about a mile in diameter. If a developer wants to erect a tall building in a sector where tall buildings are permitted, the plan plainly instructs him that after the fourth story, the tower must be set back 40 feet; then the rest of the building can go as high as the owner wants it to. The setback is to prevent tall buildings from overpowering the streets. Bill Dennis of Moule & Polyzoides says the plan “replaced various codes and specific plans and different requirements that were arbitrary and contradictory.” He notes that a developer who adheres to the plan’s instructions is guaranteed a building permit in 28 days “with no public review, because it’s all been agreed upon by community groups” who were involved in the plan’s formulation. Conversely, Leatherwood points out that to build in disregard of the plan, “you have to wade through the process that is the curse of every developer.” “It’s unleashed private-sector incentives,” Dennis says. “Pent-up demand, especially in housing, is being met.” As of 1998, downtown Albuquerque hadn’t experienced any substantial private-sector construction in 15 years, says developer and real estate consultant Chris Leinberger. “Since then, there’s been $300 million in new construction.”