ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (KRQE) – It used to be a magnet for homelessness and crime so the city put Kimo Park on sale for cheap. However, four years later, the city wants to buy back that park for a lot more than they thought it was worth.
At I-40 and San Mateo, Kimo Park has been fenced off for years under private ownership. That could change and it’s something neighbors welcome because they said the property is still a magnet for problems. “Every week we were getting our windows broken. It was costing me about $800 a week just to fix the windows. So, we put security plates up there,” said Owner of Bee’s Sign Shop Andrei Gomez.
The city first tried to sell Kimo Park for at least $90,000 back in 2018. No one bought it and in late 2020 the city dropped the price even more. By early 2021, Albuquerque developer Geltmore LLC bought the park, but it’s sat unchanged.
Since the park swapped hands, the city bought the nearby San Mateo Inn which they’re turning into transitional housing for homeless young adults. With that, the city now wants to buy back the neighboring park. The city hasn’t told KRQE News 13 how much they sold Kimo Park for, but in 2020 they asked buyers for a minimum bid of just $36,000.
The city is now looking to buy it for nearly ten times that price, for around $330,000. “This is solving a problem for the city because they want to build the gateway youth center and they need the land for parking and it’s going to be a transformational development for the city,” said Co-Owner of Geltmore LLC Adam Silverman.
The city is looking to take Kimo Park back in exchange for a park space near the closed Pei Wei on Louisiana in Uptown, along with $130,000.
The sale hasn’t been green-lit yet; however city councilors are expected to take up a crucial step in that process at Monday night’s meeting.
The city’s health housing and homelessness department sent KRQE News 13 this statement:
Gateway Young Adult will offer a dedicated space for individuals ages 18 to 25 to access vital resources and housing support. If approved, the City looks forward to Kimo Park playing a key role in this mission, transforming it into a space that better serves the community’s needs. As part of this land swap, Kimo LLC will purchase the former Pei Wei in Uptown, breathing life into a vacant storefront. This is a win-win for both the City and a local business.