Contrary view

Heywood Sanders won't be at the NM First town hall meeting later this week, but he did tell NMI why the proposed events center isn't in the city's best interest.

A new downtown arena here? The potential $400 million project is very much in the early stages of the planning and public input process, a process that is already being questioned. (Photo by Keith Coronel/Flickr)

ALBUQUERQUE -- City officials are hoping to spur New Mexico's tourism sector in a major way through the development of a downtown event center that would include a 12,000 seat arena and a new hotel. With a price tag projected at close to $400 million, proponents argue that it would greatly expand the ability of the state to attract large conventions and serve as a regional entertainment complex connecting communities along the Railrunner transit corridor.

But, there are issues -- some studies indicate that such large investments of public revenue in other cities haven't paid off. There are also possible negative impacts on surrounding neighborhoods. And, given the $700,000 investment by the City Council for a viability study, many suspect the project is a foregone conclusion before much of the public has had an opportunity to weigh in.

In a recent blog post, I highlighted a New Mexico First Town Hall happening this Thursday about the proposed project, and noted the inclusion of a critical voice on the panel of speakers, which was otherwise composed of three convention and hospitality industry professionals.

I've since received a note from that critical panelist that he won't be attending. Heywood Sanders, a professor of public administration at the University of Texas in San Antonio, wrote:

...I won't be attending the town hall on the arena/hotel project next week. ...the program is not intended to seriously inform Albuquerque citizens about the realities of these projects, their (quite modest) impact on downtown revitalization, their (numerous) problems in other cities, or their public cost and risk. I don't think an event put on by the [Convention and Visitors Bureau] can raise the really important questions. I hope that someone will provide the opportunity for some real information and discourse on another occasion, and I'd be pleased to be part of that.

Sanders' email brings up questions not only about the project itself, but about the public process through which the city will decide whether or not to proceed.

The process

New Mexico First is a non-profit organization founded by New Mexico's two U.S. senators, Democrat Jeff Bingaman and Republican Pete Domenici, to provide public forums about important policy questions.

In this particular case, it's true that the Albuquerque Convention and Visitors Bureau requested this particular town hall and is funding it, NM First Executive Director Heather Balas said. But she doesn't understand why Sanders thinks NM First wouldn't be an "honest broker." In fact, they strive to be just that, she told the Independent:

The ACVB hasn't tried to veto opposition content and they agree with our position that our town halls have to be fair to all sides. When Heywood stepped back just ten days before the Town Hall, in fact, he left us in a real bind. He has a perspective that's really valuable, understanding some of the pitfalls that have been faced in other communities. His expertise isn't so easily replaced, but we've done our best to do so.

The NM First website has a background report about the project that includes perspectives both pro and con. They've replaced Sanders with three people whom Balas described as either critics or "on the fence." These include Paul Gessing of the Rio Grande Foundation, Rob Dickson from the East Downtown Neighborhood, and Kate Krause, an associate professor of urban economics from UNM.

Balas also told the Independent that the Town Hall is open to the public, and that they will waive the $35 entrance fee for anyone who asks. Balas said the town hall should be seen as a kickoff event of sorts. "It's intended to give a really thoughtful session devoted to surfacing the things we need to know, to decide if we like the idea or not. It isn't intended to give a report, but rather to supply questions that need to be answered."

City Councilor Debbie O'Malley, who is on record as a supporter of the project and also serves on the ACVB Board, told the Independent that there will be more outreach. "We're already asking ourselves how to create a meaningful discussion with the public," she said. "The NM First town hall will provide some insight, but obviously can't be the only avenue given that it's an all-day event during the work week."

The project

Sanders wrote a Brookings Institute report in 2005 that examines the pay-off of publicly financed convention centers. His description of these types of projects, which he says localities are in an "arms race" of sorts to pursue, sounds a lot like what is proposed for downtown Albuquerque:

...cities, states, and public authorities have invested billions in an arms race with competing cities to lure conventions and their attendees to new or expanded convention centers. Many of these same places have also invested in publicly-owned hotels, new and expanded airports, and downtown-oriented rail transit systems, all designed to support their hunt for conventions and trade shows.

The idea, says O'Malley, is that the event center will create a regional destination venue located on a rail line connecting Albuquerque north to Santa Fe and south to Belen. The event center would be within easy walking distance to the convention center, providing the critical extra floor space necessary to attract large conventions to the city. And a new hotel across the street from the convention center would provide the necessary additional room space.

According to studies done by the ACVB, the number one reason event planners give for not selecting Albuquerque for conventions is the lack of hotel room space downtown.

But Sanders says this doesn't mean the market is actually there to make the investment pay off. And while the city's outlay of $700,000 to conduct a study probably means they'll put a lot of stock in it, he says that a lot of the consultants who generate these reports do so with flawed or inadequate numbers.

Sanders finds that the convention marketplace has been on the decline in the United States since before the "disruptions of 9/11" with current overall attendance at the 200 largest tradeshow events down to 1993 levels.

This is a trend, he says, that is exacerbated by advances in communications technology. In his report, Sanders notes that 44 such new or expanding convention centers were in the planning or construction stages around the country. And, he finds, many of the already existing publicly financed convention expansions around the country operate at a loss.

O'Malley told the Independent, though, that she believes the majority of the City Council sees the value of this project, and she's one of them.

I feel very strongly that it should happen. The location is ideal being downtown and right next to the Railrunner, which makes it regionally viable. We've let our convention center go by the wayside, and the outcome is that we aren't competitive. In the past I've been a strong critic of proposals for sports arenas. But this is different -- it isn't just focused on sports. We've already made a huge investment in our convention center, and if our city also invests in an arena, it should be connected.

The assessment will provide us a good look at the numbers, what size we need and how the money works out, but I feel this smaller 12,000-seat arena is the right size for our downtown. Ultimately, it'll connect the dots and revitalize our city core. It'll stimulate the kind of investment we want downtown and our hospitality industry will have a major boost.

But other local experts say that a boost to the hospitality industry through large regional projects shouldn't be the only consideration.

One of the primary dangers of large redevelopment projects are the gentrifying pressures on established lower-income neighborhoods, such as those near the proposed event center. Claudia Isaac, associate professor of planning at UNM, says this danger occurs when projects that have a regional scope and scale are placed into a community in a way that doesn't create "significant multipliers" for that community.

Instead, she says, the benefit is regional, with people not coming to visit the neighborhood itself, but for specific events. This in turn doesn't strengthen the community, and may in fact undermine it. Isaac suggests, though, that these dangers can be mitigated through concerted efforts:

One of the ways to avoid gentrification is to make sure public redevelopment efforts improve the economic health of existing neighborhoods, through affordable housing, and commercial enterprises that fit with that community. In this way, it’s really revitalization and not displacement.

 

So should the event center happen, an effort should be made to make it a venue that addresses both regional and local needs. For instance, concessions within the center, as well as ticket pricing, could be made affordable to the local community. The goal should be permeability between the center and neighborhoods in the city core, so that they benefit along with the greater region. In this way, we might avoid the pitfalls that accompany these types of projects in other places.

In other words, the current residents of Albuquerque's city core should feel connected to a revitalized downtown in a substantive way. But to figure out how that looks, they might need to be involved in the planning process.

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