Aerial view taken in late 2022 of the Mari Mac Shopping Center. Drone shot by Nate Limback/ladailypost.com
By KIRSTEN LASKEY
Los Alamos Daily Post
kirsten@ladailypost.com
After almost 10 years of speculating on Mari Mac Plaza’s fate after Smith’s relocated across the street and watching pieces of the plaza abandoned and deteriorated, Columbus Capital is stepping in with an idea to turn Mari Mac around.
Developers Jeffrey Branch and Greg Gonzales of Columbus Capital recently discussed the status of their plans with the Los Alamos Daily Post.
Last year, Los Alamos County Planning and Zoning Commission approved a special use permit to Columbus Capital.
During the planning and Zoning meeting it was reported that Columbus Capital entered a contract with Kroger to purchase Mari Mac in May 2022 and has until May 2023 to close on the property.
Additionally, Branch said they have submitted a RFP to Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) to use some of the properties including the former Smith’s and Beals buildings for storage. This lease would be for five years. Once the lease was finished, the buildings would be demolished and mixed-use properties for housing and retail would be constructed.
During the interview with the Daily Post, Branch assured that the space will not continue to be storage after five years. The special use permit the P&Z approved will be terminated after five years.
As far as finalizing the lease with LANL, Branch explained that an appraisal has been ordered.
“We are right now talking to five different lenders … once we pick a lender, which I’m hoping will be this week … we order the appraisal, and we hope to close on the property by March 1,” he said.
Then the space needs to be ready for LANL, Branch said. The hope is LANL can utilize the storage space by May or June. Branch added they plan to make some updates and renovations to the façade, improve the parking lot and add landscaping.
“We’re going to make it look a lot better than it does now,” he said.
Besides leasing to LANL, the first phase of their plan for Mari Mac also includes submitting a proposal, sometime in February, to bring in food trucks and create a version of a food court, Branch said.
This would not be a full-build out but temporary space that incorporates an aesthetic of shipping containers and a food hall, he explained.
“We visited different places in other areas that bring in shipping containers and bring in retail and we hope to be able to staff the front of (the property) with some of that.”
Architecturally and structurally, it would not make sense to do a full-build out, Branch said.
As far as the businesses that already operate in Mari Mac, Branch said Autozone has a lease so they will stay as will Pajarito Brewpub. The owner of China Palace is looking for a new space and once she relocates, that building will be torn down. Branch said China Palace is the last tenant in that building.Mari Mac is not the only property in town Columbus Capital owns. Branch said they also purchased and own 991 Central Ave., where the Department of Motor Vehicles is located, as well as 820 Trinity Drive, portions of 800 Trinity Drive and 3500 Trinity Drive. They also have a subdivision, called Arbolada, planned to be constructed across from Los Alamos Middle School. Eighty-five single family units are being planned for the development. Planning and Zoning considered giving the development its final approval Wednesday, Jan. 11.
At 3500 Trinity Drive, Branch said they have signed a letter of intent with LANL to create a daycare facility. The building will be leased to whichever daycare provider is contracted with the laboratory.
Gonzales said to be used as a daycare center, significant work needs to be done.
“It’s going to be a major renovation,” he said. “It will be completely gutted, refinished, the parking will be redone. The fact that it will be a daycare – there are quite a few state hurdles that need to happen for operations that will be out of our control like licensing.”
Gonzales said the daycare should “definitely” be operating in the third quarter of this year.
In summation, there are big changes on the horizon and from the various community meetings and public hearings, it seems the public is excited about it, Branch said.
“Everybody seems excited … some of the tenants are making sure we don’t throw them on the street, which is never our intent so we will work with everybody to make sure they all find a home either through our properties or others,” he said. “But I think everybody’s excited. Obviously, there were other people who had come to town before and promised this and that and hopefully we made a lot more progress than all of them combined. There seems to be pretty good excitement. We’ve been doing this for a few decades, so we have a handle on how to deal with existing tenants. We’re not going anywhere … our intent is to continue to be part of the community.”
Pajarito Brewpub Owner Patrick Mockler Wood expressed enthusiasm for the project planned at Mari Mac Plaza.
“I think it will be a benefit, not just to the businesses that are there but Los Alamos as a whole,” he said. “Both the local businesses and all the different people who are in Mari Mac shopping plaza.”
Mockler Wood added he supports Columbus Capital’s plans because “the current condition of all those buildings is far less than adequate to the point no person in their right mind would want to start a business in that establishment. Having something fresh and new always brings fresh ideas to the table.”
Plus, Mockler Wood said he appreciates how Columbus Capital hasn’t acted impulsively and has really worked with the existing businesses.
“They have been more than accommodating, wanting to listen to everybody’s concerns, everybody’s ideas,” he said. “They do actively take interest in the day-to-day of all the businesses … they are trying to make some very large decisions and put a lot of money on the table. They want to make sure it is going to work, and that the community likes it.”
Branch emphasized their experience should help make this plan successful where others have been scrapped.
Gonzales agreed.
“Some of it is pace,” he said. “We understand that these things take time. So consequently, we did not go to the County or the public with a whole bunch of promises. We did a lot of our research. Kroger did their research with us … a lot of it is just experience and doing it at the right time … we thought now would be a little bit better.”
That experience and knowledge has also helped them work with the County, Gonzales said. He added that “so far they have been very responsive.”
Los Alamos County Economic Development Administrator Dan Ungerleider spoke about Columbus Capital’s plans.
“The creation of new housing and viable retail spaces are key to improving the economic viability in the County,” he said. “The Los Alamos Downtown Master Plan designates the Mari Mac Shopping Center and adjacent properties for mixed-use development, providing opportunities for housing, lodging, retail, and parking, emphasizing walkable spaces for young and old alike. So far, the County Community Development Department is encouraged that the proposed developer is working to meet these goals.”
Branch also said he feels this plan will be good for Los Alamos.
“We were invited by the County in 2018 or 2019 to come help develop some of the product needs that the community needed: housing, retail and office – there is such short supply of those … it is really satisfying that some of the needs we can (accommodate) given the limited supply of land for apartments, for housing, for single family, for shop space, for restaurants…,” he said.
He added that mixed-use development is very popular among many demographics such as baby boomers who want to downsize or Gen Z’s who want easy access to different things.
Plus, mixed-use development is a more efficient use of land and of time. People don’t need to get into their car and drive to different places. Hopefully, this will cause a domino effect in encouraging more redevelopment of Los Alamos’ downtown, Branch said.
“We’re excited to be part of the community,” he said. “We’re excited about hopefully sparking a redevelopment of downtown. It’s a great community …. We’re honored to be able to help to transform some of the community and excited that we can bring uses that hopefully can bring the community together … this is truly going to be a sense of place.”
He added the goal is to make this a destination for tourists and a place people want to live in.
As Mockler Wood said, sometimes a big idea is just what is needed.
“I think that really the only way we are going to see the change we want to see in our small business and in our local community is to allow change to happen,” Mockler Wood said. “These developers are talking about some pretty big changes and that’s really the only way the community will grow from where it is right now.”