Renovation of mid-century motel nears completion
Aug. 8—Stay for a night, a month, or even longer.
The Imperial Inn, an atomic-age motel on Route 66, is having a renaissance. After being vacated, the city of Albuquerque tapped the East Downtown area for redevelopment. Construction is expected to finish in August, and the completed building will include traditional hotel rooms, hotel suites with kitchenettes geared at longer stays as well as market-rate apartments.
Palindrome Communities, the developer behind El Vado, partnered with the city on the multi-million-dollar development at 701 Central NE, which will include local retail and food, a taproom and a coffee shop. The Metropolitan Redevelopment Agency contributed $700,000 to the project's development.
Although much of the original building has been gutted, certain features of the mid-century motel will remain, including the original pool from the 1960s and a tribute to the building's butterfly roof, which was a motif of the original architecture firm, Palmer and Krisel.
"We are trying to tell a story with the time period and the history of this place, and recreate the context," said Rupal Engineer, the principal-in-charge and project architect for Design Plus, the architecture firm designing the project.
The area is becoming a hotel hub. The Imperial Inn is across the street from Hotel Parq Central, and down the street from Hotel Zazz, another motel that has been renovated and turned into a boutique hotel.
