A Proposal for

the Rejuvenation of
Downtown Albuquerque
The Sunlight Tower provides downtown Albuquerque
a safe place
for business
and leisure

Proposers: Diego Arias, Liam Curran, Brandon Harden, Michael Henoud,

Alec Robertson, Christian Valles-Armijo, and Sergio Valora
March 21, 2018
Abstract

The purpose of Sunlight Tower is two-fold: we want to create a safe environment for

Albuquerque nightlife, and generate sustainable income. Currently, there are no bars in the

downtown area that can offer the same experience as we can. We offer an unbeatable view, a

safe environment, and access to an eighteen-plus club. We cater to families with our food

vendors on the bottom floor, to young adults with our bar and nightclub on the top floor, and

businesses with our rentable office space in the many floors in between. The office space in our

building is going to be our main source of revenue. In order to generate sustainable income we

will be renting out our six middle floors to be utilized as office space for other companies.

The Sunlight Tower

Recently the City of Albuquerque presented its citizens with the problem that the overall

expansion and attractiveness of the Albuquerque Downtown Metro area has been restricted due

to growth in other areas of the city. Our proposed solution to this problem is to introduce a new

social focus point in downtown Albuquerque. This report has the intention to highlight the cost

benefits for the construction of the Sunlight Tower. It is important to recall that we are

recommending our project based upon our previous investigations and methodology. The

Sunlight Tower recommendation report is sectioned as following

-Our plan: Improving the Nightlife of Downtown ABQ.

A concise phase by phase project description of the building. It highlights the principles of our
methodology.

- Summary: The Sunlight Tower.

A purpose statement of the building. It analyzes benefits upon construction for both management
and the city of Albuquerque.
-Discussion: The Sunlight Tower is meant to attract people to the downtown vicinity.
An analysis and discussion of the Team’s thinking process. The lay out of our ideas that led to
the creation of the Sunlight Tower.

-Recommendation: The Albuquerque Sunlight Tower; A way to contribute to the Downtown

Albuquerque rejuvenation effort.
The breakdown of the cost benefits of the Sunlight tower construction based upon methodology.
This is the Recommendation report.

-References

Our Plan: Improving the Nightlife of Downtown ABQ

With the grant that has been provided by the city of Albuquerque, we have designed a

building which is comprised of office spaces as well as a multi-floor nightclub and rooftop bar.

This building, The Sunlight Tower, will improve and rejuvenate the nightlife in downtown by

providing a safe place to socialize and drink for those ages 21+ on our rooftop bar, as well as an

alcohol-free 18+ dance club on the floor below. The building is not solely for entertainment

however, there will be offices on the middle floors that will provide the building with the

majority of its income. The development of the Sunlight Tower will take place over four phases.

Phase 1: Attracting Business to locate in the building

As renting office spaces will provide the building with the majority of its revenue and

keep the building self-sustainable, we will have to attract business to our location. Our

building will provide a safe and secure area that is located in a prime location in the city

for office space. This is also a prime location for all the business that will be located in

the food court section of the building.

Phase 2: Opening Date

 In order for the upper floors of the tower to be successful, we will need to capture the the

attention of the young people. This can be achieved by setting our opening date in fall,

right when all the new college students fresh from graduating high school or back from

summer break will be moving in or moving back into the area for the rest of the school

year. During this time all these people will be looking for a cool new place to hang out

and will find it in the Sunlight Tower.

Phase 3: Marketing Campaign

The marketing campaign should be divided over several methods. First, we will hand out

flyers on the UNM campus and post on bulletin boards. Secondly, we will buy time space

on some local channels to show an advertisement. Finally, we will buy a week long ad

space on some local radio channels.

Phase 4: Establishing Security

Establishing a safe and secure place to both work and hangout is our top priority. In order

to do this, we will have a series of arrangements in place. First, there will be a building

security team that will be available throughout business hours as well as security cameras

throughout the building that will be monitored by one of the security members during this

time. Also a key card will be required to access the office spaces, this is to remove the

chance of any nightclub patrons from entering these areas. This key card will be used in

both the elevator and the stairwell entry points.

When these steps are completed, Sunlight Tower will be a safe and secure office building full of

businesses by day and a great adult hangout full of people by night. With this building completed

and opened for the first time, the entirety of downtown Albuquerque will see an immediate

improvement in both aesthetic and entertainment.

Summary:.

The sole purpose of this building is to bring something to downtown that nobody has

seen before. Furthermore, it will positively contribute to the New Mexican economy and attract

travelers to the city from around the country. As stated previously, downtown Albuquerque is

lacking in nightlife and safety and this building will provide both. In addition, it will also be self-

sufficient as the rent from the rooftop bar, nightclub, and business will provide enough revenue

that our profit margin will be met and exceeded.

The layout of our building is unlike any other in the area. The lack of high rises in

downtown will allow our building to stand out amongst others. Safety is of great concern in

downtown, and consolidating a variety of fun into one building will allow our security staff to

secure and operate this environment. Overall, the leased business space will be in full use during

the day, and when finished for the day, the nightclub and rooftop bar will come to life. This

combination is a great way of maintaining a constant use of the building; which directly creates a

constant source of revenue.

Discussion: Our building is meant to attract people to the downtown vicinity. As a team of

diverse people that are from here and not, we know what lacks in this city, especially downtown.

With our two goals, one being we need to attract people to downtown. The other to bring a

sustainable income to our building. When we thought of the problem we tried to figure out why

don't people come out during the day and during the night. What is the problem? One of our
solutions was there isn't much to do here in New mexico we have no special attractions. For the

ones that we do have they get stale or people just burn out causing people to lose interest so what

would attract people to downtown?

We looked to other cities that were generally known for being so amazing and we

decided to do a combination of restaurants, as well as a sky bar. What about a sustainable

income? Would a bar, nightclub, and a restaurant really maintain a sustainable income? This is

why on the six floors between our diverse restaurants, nightclub, and bar, we decided to include

office space to produce more revenue from our building. With the inclusion of this office space,

our building would generate around 1,488,000 dollars in gross annual revenue.

Why exactly would anyone want to come here, downtown is already dangerous by itself

in the day and even worse at night. This is something that all New Mexicans, including

ourselves, knew as fact. According to roadsnack.net New Mexico is ranked number 1 in being

the most dangerous state of the country. In violent crimes we are ranked second in the United

States and in regards to property crimes we are ranked first. So, this is a big deal for New

Mexicans, which is more than likely the reason our nightlife is so weak. No one would actually

want to go out and do something fun because they feel like their life is at risk. As a result of

having higher security, more buildings in the downtown area would take notice, causing them to

increase their security as well. Overall, these additions to the environment will make downtown a

much safer and better community.

What kind of incentive would you give these companies to actually use your building?

Well we would pay for all the security expenses. With these newly added expenses our income

would fall a bit.We thought it would be fitting to have 10 security guards on deck in the morning.

When it comes to the nightlife we thought 10 would be perfect also. The pay for security often
varies depending on which security guard you get they go from fifteen dollars ro thirty dollars

per hour. These prices depend on their experience and if they are armed or not armed. We

decided to get the security guards that are armed. We would hire twenty guards for our company

for the week. So, for the salary expense it would come out to 576 thousand dollars and if our

income in around 1.4 million a month we would have no problem paying off that expense. That

would also be our only expense. So our net income would come out to 912 thousand dollars in

revenue.

Recommendation:

By being granted the $80,000 to fund the start-up of our company, we will aim to

allocate the funds in an appropriate manner to benefit the initial tasks we must complete. We

have decided that the majority of the funds will be spent on the liquor license, as well as on

security for the building and surrounding areas. The remaining funds will be spent on the general

rejuvenation of the building itself. Once complete, the building will essentially be managed by

our company, with the floors being rented out to separate companies. By ensuring security for

the building and the areas around it, we attract companies to rent floors on our building, and we

encourage buildings in the surrounding area to do the same. We feel that this would be the most

effective way to use the funds granted to us and the most effective way to contribute to the

Downtown Albuquerque rejuvenation effort. By using the building to attract people of all groups

to a safe environment to have fun, and providing office space to higher profile companies, we

utilize the building granted to us in the most effective way possible.

 By being a company managing the security and interior of a building, we aim to

maximize profit for ourselves while still attracting multiple businesses to our building. The six

middle floors, rented out to independent businesses will earn us $15,000 a month profit and

$180,000 annually. By attracting businesses to the building and area in general, we feel that this

most effectively contributes to the rejuvenation of the area and is one main reason we should be

awarded the grant and building. Furthermore, our rooftop bar and 18+ nightclub on the floor

below will be unlike any other building in the area, and our provided security will attract people

to come and safely enjoy a night out in the downtown area. The prospect of spending a night out

in the Downtown Albuquerque area still seems unappealing to most people in the city, and our

building most effectively addresses this issue and aims to correct it. The nightclub itself will

generate significant revenue and with the rooftop bar on top of it, profit will be flowing and

coming from every floor of the building at virtually all times throughout the night. According to

Nightclub Business online, the average nightclub generates around $5,000 per night. Therefore,

with this being one of a kind in its area, our building will be continuously generating revenue,

which not only improves our situation, but that of the surrounding areas as well.

Overall, the grant being awarded to our company would be utilized in a way to most

effectively address the problems which downtown Albuquerque currently faces. Our building

will generate constant revenue for all companies involved including ours, and will be responsibly

managed and guarded. This will attract customers to the area and encourage buildings and

companies in the surrounding area to follow suit. Therefore we feel our company would be most

appropriate in receiving the grant and building, as we have a visionary idea for downtown

Albuquerque and will contribute to its rejuvenation in the most effective way possible given our

limitations.
References

Sparks, Sam. “These Are the Most Dangerous Cities America For 2018.” Roadsnack.net, Sam
Parks, 27 Feb. 2018, www.roadsnacks.net/most-dangerous-cities/.

Davis, James. Nightclubs: The In's and Out's. nightclubbiz.com/how-muDavis, James.

Nightclubs: The In's and Out's. nightclubbiz.com/how-much-money-can-a-nightclub-
make.html.ch-money-can-a-nightclub-make.html.

Project layout