Garfield Traub Development, in partnership with El Paso-based Hunt Development Group, was recently chosen by the City of Albuquerque to lead the development of a 12,000-seat multipurpose event center and 450-room convention center headquarters hotel.  Located on a strategic site adjacent to the City’s Convention Center, this project is in the heart of Albuquerque’s resurgent downtown and at the confluence of the City’s trolley system and the regional Rail Runner connecting Santa Fe and Albuquerque.  The project will provide much needed room block and general assembly space for the City's convention and tourism industry while acting as a further economic catalyst for downtown, the City, and the region.

Garfield Traub has assembled a team that combines nationally known leaders in their respective fields with strong local participation.  Team members include Turner Construction and the Turner Sports division teamed with Albuquerque-based Gerald Martin General Contractors, HOK Sport teamed with New Mexico’s oldest design firm, SMPC Architects, and SMG, the nation’s leading operator of sports and convention facilities and the current operator of the Albuquerque Convention Center. 

Initial plans proposed by the Garfield Traub team include the event center with maximum seating for concerts of 12,000, a private club, 32 executive suites, and 400 to 500 premium seats. The hotel will provide up to 40,000 square feet of additional meeting and ballroom space and be directly connected to the Albuquerque Convention Center.  This mixed-use development is also proposed to include a retail, restaurant, and entertainment zone, an adaptive re-use of the historical First Baptist Church, downtown housing, and an iconic cover over the state-owned Rail Runner connecting Alvarado Station with the event center, hotel, and convention center.  

Garfield Traub, along with its investment banking team members of RBC Capital Markets and Piper Jaffray & Co., has proposed an innovative multi-tiered financing plan that includes a substantial private capital and debt commitment. 

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