Work is expected to begin early next summer on the building of new Class A office space in the 46-acre Avanyu Plaza, located at the corner of 12th Street and Menaul Boulevard NW.
That plaza is undergoing a historic transformation spearheaded by Indian Pueblos Marketing Incorporated, which is turning the site of the former historic Albuquerque Indian School into a community of restaurants and both commercial and office structures.
The plaza site, which includes the popular Indian Pueblo Cultural Center, has also seen the construction of the first Native American-licensed Starbucks in the country, and two new restaurants.
The new office space, near Menaul Boulevard, will measure around 130,000 square feet.
Late last year, it was additionally announced that work would also begin at the plaza on a 92-room Towne Place Suites by Marriott. That $90 million project is scheduled for completion later this year.
From the start, the idea animating the Avanyu Plaza project has been to provide employment opportunities for Native Americans.
The former Albuquerque Indian School was opened in the late 19th century as a boarding school for Native Americans, closing in 1982 with the surrounding site transferred from the Bureau of Indian Affairs to the 19 Indian Pueblos of New Mexico.
The Pueblos, in turn, assigned the development of the site to Indian Pueblos Marketing, which is the for-profit arm of the Indian Pueblo Cultural Center.
By Garry Boulard
