One of the tallest and mostly vacant office buildings in downtown Albuquerque may see a repurposing as affordable housing if a developer’s idea becomes reality.
Located at 200 Lomas Boulevard NW, the Wells Fargo Building tops out at 17 floors and measures nearly 145,000 square feet.
The building originally served as the home to the American Bank of Commerce before a bank consolidation in 2001 turned it to a main branch and offices for Wells Fargo.
The structure, which is designated as a Class A building, encompasses a full city block and is most known to local residents for the fanciful green lights that shine on the exterior of the building at night.
The Albuquerque-based real estate development company Geltmore LLC has signed a contract to purchase the structure with the idea of transforming the building’s 2nd to 13th floors into residential units for affordable or workforce housing.
Additional plans for the building could see the carving out of office, retail, and restaurant space on the first floor, with the Wells Fargo branch remaining in business.
Reports indicate that the repurposing project could cost upwards of $60 million to complete. If all goes as anticipated, the new units could be ready for tenants by sometime in 2026.
November 15, 2024
By Garry Boulard
Photo courtesy of Loopnet
