Mesa del Sol

Coordinates: 34°59′N 106°38′W / 34.99°N 106.63°W / 34.99; -106.63 Mesa del Sol (Spanish for "mesa of the sun") is a proposed 12,900-acre (52 km²) mixed use community in Albuquerque, New Mexico.^[1]

History

Mesa del Sol was approved as part of a public-private partnership strategy with the State of New Mexico, City of Albuquerque and University of New Mexico and has been planning stages since the 1980s. In 2002, the New Mexico State Land Office selected Forest City as the developer of Mesa del Sol in an open bid process and the project broke ground in 2005 with University Boulevard extended to the community. Forest City Enterprises and Covington Capital Partners were the initial developers.^[2][3]

On March 17, 2011, Forest City announced that on March 28 it would break ground on the first phase of its residential development. Forest City plans to build 250 homes and models in the first phase, including infrastructure, and has selected four home builders including Rachel Matthew Homes, RayLee Homes, Paul Allen Homes and Pulte Homes.^[4] Builders estimate by early 2012, homes will be available for residents. The homes will range from 1,200 to 2,700 square feet (110 to 250 m²) in size and will cost between $100,000 and $300,000.^[5]

Plan

Mesa del Sol would be built over 40 years and would cover 9,000 acres of the 12,900-acre site. The remaining 3,200 acres is proposed for parks and open space. Overall, the project is expected to house 100,000 people, with a downtown area, 37,500 homes, 18,000,000 square feet (1,700,000 m²) of office space, 4,400 acres (18 km²) for residential and supporting retail, 800 acres (3.2 km²) for schools including university branches.^[6]

Aperture Center

Architect and New Mexico native Antoine Predock designed the Aperture Center building which opened in late 2008 as the centerpiece of Mesa del Sol. It is a LEED-certified environmentally friendly building clad in a glass curtain wall inspired by the shape of bone cells. The $11 million town center building has retail shops and restaurants on the ground floor and offices above.^[7][8]

Public services

A police substation and fire station are planned. There is a K-6 grade charter school at Mesa del Sol, The International School, which opened in 2009. School officials plan to extend school to 8th grade by August 2013 as well move into permanent building. More schools are being planned with Albuquerque Public Schools. Initially, students would attend schools outside of community at Bandelier Elementary School, Jefferson Middle school and Albuquerque High School.

Business park

1,400 acres have been set aside for Innovation Park a planned commercial center that has already created over 2,300 jobs and is home to Companies such as Fidelity Investments, SCHOTT Solar, Molina Healthcare MSR-FSR Engineering and Albuquerque Studios.

See also

• New Urbanism
• Sustainable city
• Peter Calthorpe

References

1. ^ CHAMBERLAIN, LISA (September 26, 2007). "Planned City Rises Within a City". The New York Times. http://www.nytimes.com/2007/09/26/realestate/commercial/26mesa.html?_r=1. Retrieved September 26, 2007. 
2. ^ Domrzalksi, Dennis (May 8, 2002). "Mesa del Sol developer chosen". http://albuquerque.bizjournals.com/albuquerque/stories/2002/05/06/daily8.html. Retrieved May 8, 2002. 
3. ^ Ginsberg, Steve (June 12, 2009). "Forest City eyes 2010 Mesa del Sol housing start". http://albuquerque.bizjournals.com/albuquerque/stories/2009/06/15/story5.html. Retrieved June 12, 2009. 
4. ^ Domrzalksi, Dennis (March 17, 2011). "Mesa del Sol gets ready to build houses". http://www.bizjournals.com/albuquerque/news/2011/03/17/mesa-del-sol-gets-ready-to-build-houses.html. Retrieved March 17, 2011. 
5. ^ Master planned development to have homes by 2012
6. ^ Metcalf, Richard (March 1, 2008). "Mesa del Sol Reshapes Region". http://nreionline.com/news/areas/forest_citys_mesa_delsol_0301. Retrieved Mar 1, 2008. 
7. ^ Illia, Tony (May 2008). "Mesa Del Sol Town Center: Ceramic Frit Does Double Duty". Architectural Record. http://archrecord.construction.com/news/OnTheBoards/0805mesadelsol.asp. 
8. ^ "Aperture Center". BuildingGreen.com. http://www.buildinggreen.com/hpb/overview.cfm?projectId=1494. Retrieved October 24, 2011. 

External links

• Forest City Mesa del Sol