Council to weigh $2 million incentive for redevelopment of old 23K gold bank towers at San Mateo and Central

The 17-story skyscraper at the corner of San Mateo and Central Avenue and the 10-story “mini version” next door are clad with 23-karat gold tiles and once served as the symbol of Albuquerque and New Mexico’s booming extraction and atomic economy. Today, it stands vacant and its lots are filled with the remnants of overnight campfires and overstuffed shopping carts looted from the now closed Walmart two blocks away. 

Now things could be turning around. 

After more than a year of planning and negotiating with various city development agencies, the city council is being asked to give the final green light to a $2 million investment of public redevelopment funds into the site that could ultimately includes new housing, retail and life-work spaces. The developer estimated an $18 million total cost.

According to redevelopment plans reviewed by City Desk, the first phase of the project would convert the 10-story “mini” tower on the north end of the expansive lot into 101 new apartments, “41 of which are proposed to be income-restricted [and] affordable to households at 80% [of Area Median Income].” 

The developer told the city’s Development Commission late last year that buildout of the full site also includes a renovation of the iconic 17-story office tower clad with gold panels as well as multiple new apartment units, parking garages and street-level retail along San Mateo Boulevard. 

In July 2024, the city offered $4 million in public incentives to support redevelopment projects in “blighted” areas. The developer, Silverstone Equity Partners, LLC, of Houston, Texas initially applied for $3.96 million of that allocation but the city ultimately offered to split the total allocation between 2 projects, though final approval is up to the city council.

The developer recently worked in Albuquerque on the BLVD 2500 redevelopment project converting the old hotel and water park on Carlisle Blvd. near I-40 into residential units. 

The city’s Metropolitan Redevelopment Agency sent the formal request approving the $2 million allocation to the city council last week. It is scheduled to be voted on at the council’s next meeting on August 18th at 5 p.m. in City Hall.