Summary Analysis
     
Purpose:
     
To implement the adopted City Council Resolution 70, titled             
Establishing a Growth Policy Framework to Govern Key Decisions
of the City of Albuquerque, it is crucial to establish an accurate 
data base on developable vacant land supply, and to make such 
information readily available to the development community to 
facilitate infill development.
     
During February-March of 1999, as the first phase of developing 
the data base, Community Planners at the City of Albuquerque 
Planning Department conducted a field survey on 414 one (1) acre 
or larger potential vacant sites within the 1960 City Limits,  
as identified by the Albuquerque Geographic
System (AGIS), in order to: 1) verify the vacant status of 
those sites; and 2) to collect information on certain 
characteristics of those sites for the purpose of assessing 
developability of such vacant sites.  The second phase of the 
survey will cover the remaining part of the water service
area within the City Limits, and the third phase the remaining 
part of the entire water service area.
     
Findings:
     
Of the 414 one (1) acre or larger sites comprising 2,020 acres 
surveyed, it was found:
     *   52 sites and 65 acres were already developed,
     *   49 sites and 220 acres were under development; and 
     *   313 sites and 1,735 acres were vacant.
     
Further, of the above vacant sites and acres, in terms of their 
development potential,
     *   234 sites and 1,421 acres (82%) were considered good, 
     *   43 sites and 208 acres (12%) were considered fair; and 
     *   36 sites and 106 acres (6%) were considered poor.
The method of the evaluation used above is discussed below.
     
In addition, it is estimated that a total of 1,647 smaller than 
one (1) acre sites comprising 446 acres is vacant within the 
1960 City Limits.  As a result, an estimated grand total of 
2,181 acres - 1,735 acres surveyed and 446 acres unsurveyed - 
is vacant at this time within the 1960 City Limits.
     
The Planned Growth Strategy Findings Report (Draft 2) published 
January 12, 1999 by Parsons Brinckerhoff et al has estimated, 
as of May, 1998, a total of 2,240 acres of vacant land - 937
residential acres and 1,303 non-residential acres - as potentially 
developable within the 1960 City Limits.  The Parsons Brinckerhoff 
study derived the vacant land data from AGIS.  Despite the fact 
that it employed a statistical method to estimate vacant land 
supply, the total number is close to the Planning Department 
survey data.
     
In the Planning Department survey, Community Planners inspected 
each site individually and evaluated development potential or 
development impediments specific to the individual site.  What 
should be emphasized is that the on-site survey conducted by the 
Planning Department has fine tuned the vacant land data generated 
by AGIS, thereby providing certain site-specific information on 
individual vacant sites as well as ascertaining the magnitude
of infill development potential within the 1960 City Limits.
     
Development Potential:
     
As tabulated to the right, 220 acres of land were found to be under 
development, potentially building an estimated 629 single-family 
dwelling units, 60 multi-family dwelling units and 697,000 square 
feet of commercial space within the 1960 City Limits.
     
At issue will be how much more development can occur on vacant sites 
within the 1960 City Limits, as identified above.  Based on 1989- 
1998 1998 City building permit data concerning development yields per 
acre, it is estimated that under the current zoning designations,
the vacant land within the 1960 City Limits can potentially yield 
a total of:
     *   3,676 single-family units,
     *   740 multi-family units; and
     *   6,663,000 square feet of commercial space (industrial,
         office and retail combined).
     
Further, 88% of the single-family zoned vacant land, 86% of
the multi-family zoned vacant land, and 99% of the commercial zoned 
land are considered to have good to fair development potentials. 
Certain site characteristic information pertaining to individual 
sites is available at the City of Albuquerque Planning Department.
     
Vacant Site Evaluation:
     
As shown to the right, the number of surveyed sites and acres is 
tabulated by: developing, good, fair, and poor.  Community Planners 
evaluated each site based on such criteria as:
     *   significant obstacles for development - access, drainage; 
     *   significant natural features - vegetation, geological,
         wildlife;
     *   significant positive views from the site; 
     *   existing adjacent land uses; and
     *   best potential use(s).
     
Upon evaluation of the surveyed sites on the basis of the above 
criteria, each site was classified as good, fair, poor in terms of 
its potential infill development.
     
It should be noted that a total number of sites as tabulated to the 
right exceeds the 414 potential vacant sites, as stated above,
due to the fact that certain potential vacant sites, as identified 
by AGIS, have multi-zoning designations.