August 25, 2008
Albuquerque Journal
CNM breaks ground on green bookstore
RICHARD METCALF Of the JournalCentral New Mexico Community College has broken ground on a 22,885-square-foot bookstore and office building, designed to meet LEED standards, at the Joseph M. Montoya Campus in the Northeast Heights.
The bookstore will occupy about 10,000 square feet on the first floor of the building, while offices for faculty and information technology services will take up the second floor. The $6.5 million project, which includes 273 additional parking spaces and drainage improvements, is expected to be completed in August 2009.
The new bookstore, which will have a coffee bar, will replace the existing 3,000-square-foot bookstore in a first-floor corner of Tom Wiley Hall, said Luis Campos, CNM’s executive director of the physical plant.
In addition to being larger, the new bookstore will also have the option of being open in the evenings and on weekends. The existing bookstore is in the campus administration building and thus is only open during regular office hours, he said.
“This gives more flexibility to students,” Campos said. “Hopefully it’ll eliminate some of the long lines we get at the start of a semester.”
CNM is seeking silver certification in the U.S. Green Building Council’s Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design program, which is a green-building rating system. By going green with the bookstore building, Campos said the community college will save 34 percent in energy costs compared to a conventional building.
The project architect is NCA Architects and Planners, while the general contractor is Star Construction. Both are Albuquerque based.
Opened in 1979 with one building, the Montoya campus now has five buildings with a total of close to 200,000 square feet. The 40-acre campus is two blocks north of Montgomery NE, between Morris and Juan Tabo. It serves more than 5,500 students.Construction rental opens
Las Vegas, Nev.-based Ahern Rentals, which leases construction equipment, has expanded in the Albuquerque metro area with the acquisition of a locally owned competitor.
Ahern opened a satellite operation last month at the five-acre site of the former Interstate Equipment at 102 E. Frontage Road in Bernalillo. The company had acquired Interstate’s real estate and other assets.
“It gets us closer to markets we already serve in Santa Fe and Rio Rancho,” said Steve McMullin, general manager of Ahern’s New Mexico operation. “It’s a convenience for both our customers and ourselves.”
Ahern arrived here in 2006, opening in a 10,000-square-foot building on four acres at 2920 Broadway SE, between Gibson and Woodward. Currently with 46 locations in 11 states, the company said from the start that it planned more locations in the metro.
Ahern has 39 employees locally. It rents hand tools to heavy equipment, but is best known for aerial platforms such as boom and scissor lifts. Reflecting the emergence of the film industry, McMullin said production companies have joined contractors, warehouse operators and homeowners on the list of regular customers.
Brian and Marlene Rael founded Interstate Equipment 5½ years ago. Now that they’ve sold it, Brian said the couple will devote full attention to their 25-year-old general contracting business, Blue Sky Builders.
Ahern’s acquisition of Interstate’s assets was one of the last deals for Bill Pruett of NAI Vaughan Co. Commercial Real Estate Services. A business broker in charge of the asset sale, Pruett died May 31 at age 60.
“Every now and then you run into one of those good people,” said the Vaughan Co.’s Carol Cooper-Skopil, who handled the real estate part of the transaction. “Bob was a good Christian man who walked the walk.”
The deal was far from closing at the time of Pruett’s death. Brian Rael credited Cooper-Skopil with stepping in to finalize the asset part of the sale. “Without her, this deal would’ve dragged on,” he said.
Richard Metcalf can be reached at 823-3972 or rmetcalf@abqjournal.com.