Are the Downtown areas newfound population and affluence visiting, or here to stay?
A little more than two years ago, my wife and I stopped at the sales office of the Lofts at Albuquerque High. Inside, a sales agent touted the coming — yet still-unseen — benefits of living in a “vibrant Downtown.” Orange dots marked a building schematic, which denoted buyers. “How much for an orange dot?” we asked. “About $1,000,” we were told — in effect, it was a one-grand bet that the lofts would actually materialize. They did, of course, and this year, we closed the deal, finding ourselves more than $10,000 richer as property values zoomed up Downtown. None of this comes as any surprise to Chris Leinberger, principal of the Historic District Improvement Co., developers of the theater, retail and loft complex at First and Central. It’s all part of “an upward spiral of value creation,” he says, spurred by the new development, and, particularly, residential construction. Overall, sale prices of existing homes in Albuquerque increased about five percent in 2003, compared to a 25 pe
