The Hotel Blue in Albuquerque will undergo $22M renovation

The Hotel Blue, once known as the Downtowner Motor Inn, in Albuquerque soon will undergo a $22 million renovation from a Los Angeles-based company.

Albuquerque Business First reported ARRIVE Hotels and Restaurants will operate the hotel after the renovations are finished and will change the name to ARRIVE Albuquerque.

The newspaper reported:

ARRIVE co-founder Ezra Callahan confirmed to Business First that his team is in the process of gathering construction drawings and hopes to send out general contracting bids by the end of September. In a “perfect world,” he said, the 75,000-square-foot, six-story ARRIVE Albuquerque will break ground by 2020 and be operational by 2021. […]
ARRIVE is seeking industrial revenue bonds and other tax credits to finance the project, Callahan said. Renovation plans include 135 guest rooms, meeting spaces, a ground-level coffee shop and bar, a renovated pool and patio, landscaping and a food truck park, according to a release. ARRIVE Albuquerque is set to employ 75 full-time and part-time employees, Callahan said.
The project will have a positive economic impact of more than $2.2 million, said City of Albuquerque Economic Development Director Synthia Jaramillo.

The Albuquerque Journal also reported that ARRIVE Albuquerque also will restore the hotel’s exterior to its original look from its 1965 opening (see image above as an example).

The Hotel Blue sits at Eighth Street and Central Avenue (aka Route 66) in downtown.

(Hat tip to KOAT-TV; a vintage image of the Downtowner Motor Inn via the city of Albuquerque)