Uptown Connect: Coming Soon!

Groundbreaking - Summer 2026

Fully Operational - Fall 2028

Stage I: Pre-Development

Stage II: Construction

Transit Plaza for Quick Connectivity Across Albuquerque

Uptown Connect will transform the aging and isolated transit center with a bustling plaza as the centerpiece of business and housing. This important node in the transportation system offers bus service every 15 minutes, connecting transit users to Albuquerque Rapid Transit (ART) and two other bus routes. Riders can travel nearly anywhere in the City in under an hour. 

Uptown already boasts high transit ridership, and the new commercial and residential development is expected to raise use by 40%. More activity, security, and visibility in the area will offer a safe and pleasant environment for pedestrians, cyclists, and transit riders.

Access to convenient, free, and frequent transportation opens up possibilities to lessen reliance on personal vehicles and reduce car-related costs and harmful carbon emissions. This development brings much-needed housing to people and an efficient two-way channel to get where they need to go.

Transit Plaza Features:

• Integrated bus docks. 
• An active environment for transit users.
• Convenient access to free city-wide bus service for Uptown residents.
• Bike racks available throughout the development and available to transit riders.
• Digital screens with real-time bus information.
• Access to other mobility options like scooters, bicycles, and ride shares.

Access to Affordable and Market-Rate Apartments in an Urban Area

Uptown Connect maximizes a highly commercialized district: three million square feet of malls, another three million of offices, and at least another million smaller service and commercial spaces. But Uptown lacks housing. About 11,000 people come to the district every day to work, but only 100 people both live and work there because there is very little housing. Uptown Connect will be the first truly integrated transit development in the Uptown area where affordable housing is sorely lacking.

Along with the transit plaza and commercial spaces, the development will include hundreds of mixed-rate energy-efficient housing units across two towers. The North Tower will be a combination of market-rate and affordable housing rental units funded by a Rebuilding American Infrastructure with Sustainability and Equity (RAISE) Grant and the developer. The South Tower will be privately constructed market-rate rental units. With an estimated average household size of 1.6 people, Uptown Connect will house nearly 700 people with immediate access to catch a bus, shop, grab a bite, or enjoy the dog park.

To maintain an effective transit system that serves the broadest socioeconomic range of residents and connects them to jobs and services, it’s critical to encourage density in the core where transit service is most abundant and frequent. Adding affordable housing units to a transit center allows ABQ RIDE to fulfill its commitment to improve lives by creating innovative ways to access jobs, services, education, necessities, and recreation.

Mixed-rate housing with convenient transit access increases affordable choices for underserved, overburdened, or disadvantaged people —a viable option that can reduce transportation costs to near zero, especially with a Zero Fares transit system in Albuquerque.

Housing Features:

• 239 mixed-rate rental apartments in North Tower (203 affordable).
• Underground parking and electric vehicle chargers for personal vehicles.
• Co-developed by Palindrome and Family Housing Development Corporation.

Entertainment On-site Including Trendy Retail, Food Court, Dog Park, and More!

Uptown Connect will include commercial space reminiscent of the Sawmill, Imperial Motel, or El Vado Motel. The same innovator, Palindrome, is ABQ RIDE’s private-sector development partner bringing this project to life from the ground up. Palindrome knows how to create dynamic environments that are magnets for social activities.

The commercial addition to this housing and transit plaza will economically transform an aging and isolated parcel of land into a thriving zone in the geographic center of the City’s second-most active employment and entertainment area.

Uptown Connect’s commercial hub will be a strong economic driver, providing opportunities for long-term growth and job creation. During the construction period alone, several hundred jobs will be generated, with an estimated 46 new permanent jobs from the commercial portion of the project to support the local economy. The commercial spaces are expected to generate more than $2 million in annual economic benefits.

Commercial Features:

• 19,000 sq. ft of office and commercial space.
• Visitor access to underground parking. 
• Exciting micro-retailers brought to you by Palindrome, the developer behind El Vado Motel.
• Dog park.

Uptown Connect will Transform Uptown

Uptown Connect celebrates the importance of bringing people professional and social opportunities. This development’s impact reaches even further by activating the area, making Uptown busier, cleaner, safer, and more environmentally sustainable.

Problems and Solutions:

Transportation is the second-largest contributor to Albuquerque's greenhouse gas emissions. By encouraging mass transit with convenient, frequent access and increasing density, Uptown Connect will reduce the number and length of auto trips. Uptown is a fast-moving area with high traffic congestion. Uptown Connect is a sustainable way to reduce adverse environmental impacts caused by fossil fuels. It is estimated that Uptown Connect will result in an annual reduction of 955,188 vehicle miles traveled, which is a collective savings of more than $545,000 per year in auto ownership costs and 382 metric tons of CO2 gas reduced per year.

Uptown is short on housing with no affordable options. For the first time, there will be a truly integrated housing and transit environment in the Uptown area where affordable housing is sorely lacking. Uptown Connect encourages less driving and reduces personal transportation cost burdens by supporting all modes of transportation. An estimated 17.5% fewer vehicles will be owned by residents of Uptown Connect due to location-efficient design.

Low-income people are more likely to require public transportation and to be overly burdened by transportation costs. A mixed-use, high-density concept will prioritize public transit while creating a catalyst for live-work-play development in a context that reduces overall emissions and makes it easy for residents and users to live in a lower-cost, more efficient lifestyle.

Uptown Connect simultaneously advances many of our city’s goals including access, mobility, affordability, quality-of-life, economic development, sustainability, safety, equity, partnering with private entities to advance public goals, and Smart City technology. This project is a part of the Affordable ABQ and Housing NOW initiatives to tackle the housing shortage with new options and solutions that help residents connect to free and low-cost resources to make life more manageable.

Uptown Connect is a Public-Private Partnership 

Uptown Connect is a $120 million joint development project led by ABQ RIDE in conjunction with Palindrome, co-Developer Family Housing Development Corporation, and the City’s Department of Health, Housing, and Homelessness, and funding from a Federal RAISE Grant. It will contribute to the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law (BIL), investing in improved access, mobility, economic development, sustainability, and safety.

City of Albuquerque Investment and Contribution:

ABQ RIDE

• Contributed a 1.5 -acre parcel of land where the Uptown Transit Center stands.
• Bought an additional ½ acre.
• Collaborated with architectural firm Dekker to design the transit plaza.
• Allocating $26.5 million in grant funding to cover the construction costs of utilities, substructure, and transit plaza that support the mixed-rate housing tower.
  • $25 million RAISE Grant.
  • $500,000 from original federal grant of 1998.
  • $500,000 in federal funding from the Transportation Improvement Program.
  • $125,000 in local money authorized by the City Council.

Department of Health, Housing, and Homelessness

• Investment of approximately $10 million through Workforce Housing Trust Funds, State of New Mexico legislative funding, and Community Development Block Grant.

Palindrome Involvement:

• Project design and construction by PacifiCap Construction.
• Management of commercial and housing features.
• Security and maintenance of the entire site.

Family Housing Development Corporation Involvement:

• Nonprofit partner and co-developer of the project with Palindrome.
• Specializes in affordable housing and helped secure public-private partnership.
• Developing the residential piece of Uptown Connect.

Community Partners

A range of groups including Albuquerque Public Schools, Greater ABQ Active Transportation Committee, Greater ABQ Recreational Trails Committee, Climate Action Plan Stakeholder Committee, City of Albuquerque Transit Advisory Board, Uptown Progress Team, Albuquerque Apartment Association, and local chapters of the Commercial Real Estate Development Association and Urban Land Institute contributed their support and input to this initiative.

As the project moves forward, more partners will be included.

In Albuquerque, we recognize the importance of combating climate change and fostering a solid, sustainable future for our community. These grants are a game changer in advancing our ongoing commitment to building a sustainable future for our city. We appreciate the support of our federal delegation in helping secure funding for this historic investment.  – Mayor Tim Keller

This is not your run-of-the-mill, little ice tea project that comes along every five years on transit. [The Bipartisan Infrastructure Law] is an investment in infrastructure that we have not seen in the United States of America since the interstate highway system was created.  – Senator Martin Heinrich

We’re energized by Uptown Connect’s vision to reimagine transit, provide affordable housing, and create a thriving urban hub for Albuquerque. – Rebecca Velarde, Palindrome

I cannot think of a better location in Albuquerque to provide affordable housing for employees working in the retail and service industries. Marrying the development to a transit hub where Uptown Connect residents can access locations around Albuquerque is ideal for this type of development. All these different interests, housing, transit, and jobs, come together in one location which will make it an incredibly successful project!  – Rick Davis, Family Housing Development Corporation

• 30% Design Schematic Design Documents
• RAISE Grant Application
• City Awarded $43.2 million for Transit and Housing