Developers who want to convert Albuquerque’s dreary Winrock Mall into a showcase of New Urbanism, where people live, shop and work, got a big boost Wednesday.

Gov. Bill Richardson signed into law a bill authorizing $137 million in public bonds that will provide the developers money upfront to help pay for the infrastructure for Winrock Town Center.

“Today I am very proud to be here to sign a bill that grants Winrock a new life, one which will completely transform this area,” Richardson told a small crowd gathered at Winrock Mall for the bill-signing.

As envisionsed, the roughly 80-acre property near I-40 on Louisiana Avenue would include a 70,000-square-foot multi-screen Imax theater, a 130-room hotel, 180,000 square feet of office, retail and restaurant space, and more than 400 residential units. The project also plans for more than 6,000 parking spaces.

Developer Gary Goodman of Goodman Realty Group said the project already has lured several tenants for the project. And he hopes to break ground this fall with plans to open doors on the project at the end of 2010 or early 2011.

“That’s what we are driving for,”Goodman said Wednesday.

The bill that Richardson signed into law also clears the way for Hunt Development Group to issue $27 million in bonds in a similar fashion for the third phase of the company’s Uptown development. That third phase, called Quorum, calls for a seven-story hotel, offices for both lease and purchase, shops, residential condos and extensive parking structures on the now-vacant 7.5 acres bounded by Louisiana, Indian School and Uptown Loop NE.