What's going on, Albuquerque?
SunCal's Deep Water
SunCal is making some brazen claims to brackish water in mile-deep wells beneath the old Atrisco Land Grant - among the brazen claims by others, including Atrisco Oil and Gas, Commonwealth Utilities and Sandoval County.
The uncharacteristically reality-based skepticism of the Albuquerque Journal was picked up by istockanalyst blog. The Journal notes the policy vacuum and suggested the State Engineer really needs the authority to straighten things out and "put the brakes on this unsustainable water boom before it becomes too big or too far along to fail."
What about the development that fuels the water boom?
Development news from California is of the metaphorical deep water in which Lehman-related SunCal companies are swimming up to their necks. Or floating belly up.
Last week, SunCal Bickford Ranch LLC filed in Santa Ana, bringing the total up to eighteen (that's 18) SunCal projects in bankruptcy.
An Implode-Explode forum writer notes the difficulty of tracking the fate of various development projects. "SunCal Companies" is, in effect, a business name used by multiple separate affiliates. There is no-telling how many LLC's, limited partnerships and corporations form "SunCal". The statement has been made and oft repeated that the Albuquerque project is financed by lenders that aren't controlled by Lehmann Brothers.
Perhaps Albuquerque can save the fortunes of SunCal?
The withdrawal this week of a pending application for a commercial development at Ladera and Unser SW doesn't bode well for that. Developers said amenities planners wanted for the romantically named Heritage Marketplace project cost too darn much. Those bells and whistles drove them over the profitability edge. It couldn't possibly ever in million years have anything to do with the unprecedented economic downturn impacting real estate everywhere else. Nope. Damn planners.
Paul Gessing at the right-wing-wrist-wringing NM Liberty blog makes this argument and goes further to say that Albuquerque government "seems to not care about jobs or economic growth". He calls the voluntary withdrawal: "Killing Economic Development in Albuquerque." Murdering planners.
New Mexico Business Journal piles on the anti-planning bandwagon implying that the fate of all 57,000 acres of SunCal's Albuquerque land lies in the hands of these few, these fickle, planners.
"Some in real estate and legal circles suspect the Heritage Marketplace dust-up doesn’t bode well for SunCal’s bigger future projects. They wonder if SunCal can’t obtain approval from city planners on a relatively small project, how will the California giant fare with much bigger projects on the 57,000 acres it owns on the Duke City’s Westside?"
I think the better question would be: Is the planning commission being scape-goated for much larger economic forces? Brow-beaten into accepting more ass-biting ugly big box strip mall architecture?
We can probably look forward to financial difficulties used as rationalization for additional concessions and incentives. But remember how developers, seeking unprecedented TIDD tax deals, argued how cutting-edge and wonderfully above-average their projects would be? SunCal's own consultants were the ones who stuffed our heads full of visions of sustainable new urbanistic happy-towns as the right-scaled alternative to sprawl. After years of urban design dog and pony shows, the planning commission probably knows a crappy project when they see one.
(Cross-posted at Cocoposts and edited for minor typos becasue i need an edater. )
The uncharacteristically reality-based skepticism of the Albuquerque Journal was picked up by istockanalyst blog. The Journal notes the policy vacuum and suggested the State Engineer really needs the authority to straighten things out and "put the brakes on this unsustainable water boom before it becomes too big or too far along to fail."
What about the development that fuels the water boom?
Development news from California is of the metaphorical deep water in which Lehman-related SunCal companies are swimming up to their necks. Or floating belly up.
Last week, SunCal Bickford Ranch LLC filed in Santa Ana, bringing the total up to eighteen (that's 18) SunCal projects in bankruptcy.
An Implode-Explode forum writer notes the difficulty of tracking the fate of various development projects. "SunCal Companies" is, in effect, a business name used by multiple separate affiliates. There is no-telling how many LLC's, limited partnerships and corporations form "SunCal". The statement has been made and oft repeated that the Albuquerque project is financed by lenders that aren't controlled by Lehmann Brothers.
Perhaps Albuquerque can save the fortunes of SunCal?
The withdrawal this week of a pending application for a commercial development at Ladera and Unser SW doesn't bode well for that. Developers said amenities planners wanted for the romantically named Heritage Marketplace project cost too darn much. Those bells and whistles drove them over the profitability edge. It couldn't possibly ever in million years have anything to do with the unprecedented economic downturn impacting real estate everywhere else. Nope. Damn planners.
Paul Gessing at the right-wing-wrist-wringing NM Liberty blog makes this argument and goes further to say that Albuquerque government "seems to not care about jobs or economic growth". He calls the voluntary withdrawal: "Killing Economic Development in Albuquerque." Murdering planners.
New Mexico Business Journal piles on the anti-planning bandwagon implying that the fate of all 57,000 acres of SunCal's Albuquerque land lies in the hands of these few, these fickle, planners.
"Some in real estate and legal circles suspect the Heritage Marketplace dust-up doesn’t bode well for SunCal’s bigger future projects. They wonder if SunCal can’t obtain approval from city planners on a relatively small project, how will the California giant fare with much bigger projects on the 57,000 acres it owns on the Duke City’s Westside?"
I think the better question would be: Is the planning commission being scape-goated for much larger economic forces? Brow-beaten into accepting more ass-biting ugly big box strip mall architecture?
We can probably look forward to financial difficulties used as rationalization for additional concessions and incentives. But remember how developers, seeking unprecedented TIDD tax deals, argued how cutting-edge and wonderfully above-average their projects would be? SunCal's own consultants were the ones who stuffed our heads full of visions of sustainable new urbanistic happy-towns as the right-scaled alternative to sprawl. After years of urban design dog and pony shows, the planning commission probably knows a crappy project when they see one.
(Cross-posted at Cocoposts and edited for minor typos becasue i need an edater. )
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Comment by Masshole in Fringecrest on November 11, 2008 at 11:54am -
Great Post Coco! May the State Engineer rein this in! May the economic conditions halt this misguided until it will work ON ITS OWN MERITS... "if SunCal can’t obtain approval from city planners on a relatively small project, how will the California giant fare with much bigger projects on the 57,000 acres it owns on the Duke City’s Westside?" EXACTLY. DON'T BUILD IT.
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Comment by Masshole in Fringecrest on November 11, 2008 at 11:55am
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oops, should read "misguided development" I nead an eaditor too.
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Comment by shotsie on November 11, 2008 at 11:55am -
C'mon ABQ city councilors, save the Heritage Marketplace with a sales tax TIDD, just like WinRock.... If your mall makes it big time, think of all the money you'll get - it's like playing the Lotto. (Who cares about city services - the residents of greater ABQ can pay for those with increased property taxes.)
(BTW, thanks Coco for bringing this issue up - this is a scary trend.)
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Comment by Rocky on November 11, 2008 at 12:16pm -
After reading today’s other post on your blog COCOPOSTS, I’m concerned about wordsmithing your adjectives about planners into verbs. I know how to damn a planner, and while many a politician has been murdered in the name of policy, I am not aware of any such fate befalling a planner (not that it hasn’t been thought about). But I am curious if ‘fickling’ a planner is the portmanteau word that my naughty mind thinks it is?
Seriously, here's hoping that next year's more progressively minted state legislature can install those brakes.
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Comment by Hunter on November 11, 2008 at 2:04pm -
It's worth noting that the EPC is not involved with the 57,000 acres. That will be County planners, the County Planning Commission, and ultimately the County Commission. The Commission especially may see a different threshold for a "crappy" project. New faces coming to the County Commission may change the level of SunCal boosterism on the panel.
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Comment by Mimi A on November 11, 2008 at 3:56pm -
The City Council's Land Use, Zoning and Planning (LUPZ) Committee will hear a bill sponsored by Councilor Michael Cadigan tomorrow evening (11/12/08) at 5pm regarding land use policies and integrating water management policies for the Westland Sector Development Plan. (Bill number R-08-100) On August 22, 2007 the Water Authority approved a development agreement with Westland Devco (SunCal) which authorized the extension of service to approximately 4,000 acres of the Westland Master Plan area. The development agreement stated that residential construction would not commence in the development until certain phasing conditions were met. The bill before the LUPZ committee tomorrow would link the Water Authority's phasing policy to the sector development plan. In other words, the resolution integrates water management policies with land use plans and policies for the Westland Sector Plan area.
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Comment by Deanna on November 17, 2008 at 2:26pm -
Please don't forget that even folks living in zip codes such as 87106 and 87107 were once 'sprawl' at the edge of town. To really stop growth, we'd need to seal the border, staff up the abortion clinics and start requiring permits to breed.
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