ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (KRQE) – A plot of land on Albuquerque’s west side will soon see new life. In the project’s first phase, a lot at the corner of Central and Unser would become a 52,000 square feet public plaza. It would include a meeting room, an outdoor play area, and micro-restaurants.
The project is a public and private partnership agreement between the city and Nuevo Atrisco LLC. It’s estimated to cost more than three-million dollars to build. However, these lots are known by many as a place where dozens of food trucks gather. With the new construction plans, these trucks will have to set up shop somewhere else.
Customers say the food trucks here provide a sense of community. “It’s a little saddening because these are our local businesses and I’m pretty sure it took these folks a lot to accumulate what they have with their food trucks to get something as far as like a bigger development,” says customer, Jorge Villalobos.
KRQE News 13 reached out to the city for comment. They said the public plaza will have nine built-in food trucks on site that restaurants can lease and sell food out of, but it will not have a space for established food trucks to come and park.
One of the companies behind the project says they’ve started mobilizing construction. They expect the first phase to be complete by the first quarter of next year.
