Albuquerque Journal from Albuquerque, New Mexico • Page 3

(1) CFIffDfol DECEMBER 30, 1987 Journal Metro Plus Lr TABET DEVELOPMENT CORP. DEAN HANSON JOURNAL Owner Gerald Tabet is optimistic despite Lariat Square's 40 percent vacancy rate. Twelve of the 17 storefronts in Rio Rancho's Time Square are vacant. Owners See Higher Rio Rancho Tenant Rate in Store By Virginia Mills JOURNAL CORRESPONDENT mi 10 RANCHO When Joe Ambrosio opened Sunrise Donuts 15 months ago, the Time Square shopping plaza "I thought people (in Albuquerque) would jump at the opportunity to have a branch store on the other side of the river." potential in Rio Rancho." Nelson said he has had no problem finding business people interested in setting up "mom and pop" type operations, but that taking on such tenants is risky. He said he believes it is just a matter of time before he can attract enough national companies to open stores in Southern Plaza.

Predicting that the existing overabundance of retail space will be occupied over the next 18 months, Nelson said he expects that larger, more established businesses will bring shoppers to Rio Rancho. Others, however, are less confident. Frank Montanile, the owner of King's Plaza, said he believes commercial developers overbuilt in Rio Rancho. Montanile, whose shopping center at Southern Boulevard and 23rd Street is just 40 percent full, said he is "very disappointed" with business there. "I have a beautiful looking buiding, and still it stays empty," Montanile said.

He said he was not able to find tenants, even when he offered 12 months' free rent. a brand-new plaza, is unfazed that 40 percent of his property remains unleased. "We're cutting the best deals in Rio Rancho," Tabet said, assuring that his center will be fully occupied by March. He said he is charging $10.50 a square foot, as compared to some locations in Rio Rancho that are charging as much as $15. Tabet admits the leasing of space in the center could be quicker, but he is banking on what he considers a "good strong market in Rio Rancho." William Nelson, the leasing agent for Southern Plaza, a center just west of Lariat Square, also remains optimistic about the future of Rio Rancho business, although he said the 33 percent vacancy rate in Southern Plaza is higher than he had expected.

"I thought people (in Albuquerque) would jump at the opportunity to have a branch store on the other side of the river," Nelson said. "I'm finding they are not as interested in setting up business here as I am in having them here. I think a lot of people who own businesses in Albuquerque don't realize the economic signing a lease. With a vacancy rate of nearly 27 percent among retail stores, Rio Rancho ranks just 2 percentage points behind the North Valley, the section of Albuquerque with the highest percentage of unoccupied retail space, according to John Sedberry, a broker for Coldwell Banker. The 27 percent vacancy rate the city has 390,000 square feet of retail space is based on information compiled by Coldwell Banker and does not include the 110,000 square feet of additional space now under construction, Sedberry said.

He estimated last year's retail vacancy rate in Rio Rancho at about a third of what exists currently. About twice as many stores now exist, he said. Despite these figures, Sedberry and other business people involved in the burgeoning commercial development of Rio Rancho are optimistic that the now empty storefronts eventually will be occupied. "As a real estate broker, I am confident it's going to be going really well out there," Sedberry said. seemed as promising a location as any for a small business to flourish.

Shoppers who frequented the neighboring gift shop, the video store, or who came to the Southern Boulevard center for flowers or sandwiches in other shops there kept a steady stream of business coming through the doughnut shop. But since that time, four of the stores have gone under, and Ambrosio said his business has dropped off by half. The 12 vacant storefronts that surround Ambrosio's shop in the 17-store plaza are typical of the shopping centers that line Southern Boulevard in Rio Rancho. Ambrosio said he is negotiating a rent reduction on his shop. And one plaza owner has gone so far as to offer a year's free rent to tenants without managing to attract anyone interested in He believes retail business in the area will pick up as more and more large, chain stores set up shop on the West Side.

Most recently, Safeway, Walgreens and Radio Shack have opened up in the year-old Southern Plaza. Food Emporium and a Firestone tire store are among other larger operations expected in the next year. Gerald Tabet, who owns Lariat Square, RRIEFS' Bernalillo Sued Over Zoning for Centex Board Secretary Elected CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1 Patricia Whitlatch, manager of patient and family services at St. Joseph West Mesa Hospital, has been elected secretary of the board of directors of Albuquerque's Catholic Social Services. Catholic Social Services provides counseling and support for individuals and families who need help with resettlement, immigration or family reunification.

It also provides homemaker assistance to adults over 55 who need help with house cleaning, meals and personal or social services. At St. Joseph West Mesa, Whitlatch assists patients and their families with all aspects of hospitalization, including admission and discharge planning. She also supervises Sixty Plus Services, a program of educational, social and medical activities for older adults. Whitlatch regularly speaks to West Mesa community groups about health care and lifestyle issues.

Whitlatch has a bachelor's degree from Central College, Pella, Iowa. She is also a member of the New Mexico Association of Continuity of Care and the Civitan Club. The Meto Plus section wants to hear about new businesses opening on Albuquerque's West Side, in the North Valley, or in Sando-, val or Valencia counties. It also welcomes notices of businesses' changes in hours, moves to new locations, promotions of employees, or addition of services. Send news releases to Metro Plus Marketplace, Albuquerque Journal, P.O.

Drawer Albuquerque 87103. because of the increased tax base and the 87 jobs the plant will create. The conditions would call for the town to adopt an air quality, light and noise ordinance and require Centex to ensure that Bernalillo residents would have priority in being hired. They also call for Centex to provide summer employment and scholarships for Bernalillo youth. But the appeal charges that the conditions are unenforceable because they are not attached to the zoning ordinance.

"If Centex fails to perform, the zoning cannot be revoked and there is no remedy available to the council to compel performance." Earlier, town attorney George Perez, who is out of town this week, said the conditions were legally binding agreements between the town and Centex. Additionally, the appeal calls the annexation "spot zoning," saying that it is illegal and not in accordance with a comprenhensive plan adopted by Bernalillo in the 1960s. plant would pollute the air, deplete the water supply and create round-the-clock noise. Centex officials have countered that their state-of-the-art plant will have special pollution control devices, have ordered special hydrology reports and have agreed to establish green zones to act as noise buffers. The appeal charges "the zoning amendment is detrimental to the health, safety and general welfare of all citizens of the town of Bernalillo and Sandoval County." The problem is that the council acted without a site-specific environmental impact statement, Miller said.

"The decision was based on a hypothetical site." A study had been done for a proposed site on nearby Santa Ana Pueblo. That location finally was vetoed by the pueblo. And earlier plans to build the plant near Algo-dones were dropped because of residents' objections. "Centex is inappropriate adjacent to any residental area," said Eugene Watson, a Placitas resident who organized support for the legal appeal. Lujan said he will move his family to Rio Rancho if the plant is approved.

But he added he won't sell his land. "This is my inheritance from my parents." He said he and his neighbors don't want to move from their ancestral lands. "We are going to fight and keep fighting," he said. The appeal charges that the property owners were denied due process at the meeting because Centex representatives were asked by council not to testify so the residents' questions went unanswered. The appeal also said that the council request for Centex not to speak implied "a fraudulent prehearing decision on the part of the mayor and the council members." Abousleman said the outcome was not predetermined and said he wrote out conditions for the zoning approval to satisfy objections made during the four-hour meeting.

He said that he voted for the plant have a comment after he had read the document thoroughly and consulted with the town attorney. But in an earlier interview, he had said the council acted properly in the Nov. 30 special meeting. Julio Lujan, whose house would sit in the shadow of the proposed 80-foot-tall plant, said he "filed because of what we saw at the meeting. They didn't consider what we had to say.

They just zipped it right passed us." Another property owner, John Morgan, who had wanted to establish a light industrial park in the area, said the Centex proposal was railroaded through the council without any thought of what other beneficial economic development could occur. "I am not against economic progress for Bernalillo," he said. He said his property had been considered by a silver-casting company and a document storage business. Opponents have charged that the Serving the Entire Albuquerque and Rio Rancho Area cyvwo Residential Commercial KNXX iii Los Ranchos Joins AM Dial Professional Service Free Door Inspections Evening Service Available At No Extra Charge No Trip Charge to Location Preventive Maintenance Programs Available CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1 ON SALE FOR 2 WEEKS ONLY! MODEL-1060 12 HP. Heavy Duty Garage Door Opener -Liftmasters Best operator live telephone interviews with local artists, playwrights and people of note.

As the station develops, Davis hopes to expand the news coverage and offer traffic reports. He also wants to transmit shows from all over town, being on hand at store openings and charity events. "I want to bring the radio station to the people," he said. Now that his childhood dream has manifested itself, Davis, a smart-looking man whose short-cropped dark hair already is touched with gray, finds the reality exciting, but scary. Davis hasn't let any fear slow him down.

He already has applied for a license for an FM station serving Santa Rosa. cals, the 24-hour station offers regular news and weather updates and Night Touch. Hosted by Kristopher Morgan, a certified hypnotherapist, Night Touch, broadcast between 10 p.m. and midnight Monday through Saturday, is designed to help listeners wind down and relax before bedtime. He reads thought-provoking material he has written, balanced by soothing sounds and music.

Britt, a longtime Albuquerque radio personality, said he also hopes to introduce vignettes provided by the KNXX Theater of the Mind Players. These snatches of drama, reminiscent of old-time radio, set a scene and lead into the next song. In addition, Britt wants to conduct 892-2127 22500 INSTALLED any additional AM stations in Albuquerque. He chose Los Ranchos, which had only one other AM station, K-LTN. Those federal rules also require that every radio station be responsible to the people to which it is licensed.

Davis already has appeared before the Los Ranchos trustees, offering his station's services. Because KNXX is so new, Davis is not certain how he will fulfill his federal obligation, but is considering a discussion program focusing on Los Ranchos issues or trustees meeting coverage. Davis defends the location of the station's offices in Home Office Plaza on San Mateo NE. The business climate is good for advertising sales because it is in the center of the city's business community, he said. "It doesn't dilute our ability to respond to Los Ranchos needs," he said.

"It's not a business-oriented community and people go elsewhere to shop." In addition to adult popular vo Davis said. That's where he's been ever since, having worked at many of the radio stations in Albuquerque in one capacity or another. In 1983, he applied to the Federal Communications Commission for a license to start a radio station that would serve Los Ranchos. In 1984, he moved to Grants and bought KMIN-AM, a country music station. He came back to Albuquerque last May to concentrate on KNXX, which is owned primarily by Davis, with his mother and John Irick Jr.

as secondary partners. Davis is proud of the home-owned status of his station and of his role in building it. He opens a drawer in his cluttered desk and pulls out a small stack of photographs in which he is pouring concrete for three 190-foot transmission towers in Albuquerque's South Valley. When Davis applied for a license in 1983, FCC regulations prohibited N.M. Lic.27775 s4995 tax will install any make operator that you may have already purchased.

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