Pueblo-owned plaza ON A ROLL
City’s first Laguna Burger to join Starbucks at site developing near Indian Pueblo Cultural Center
The site near the Indian Pueblo Cultural Center that boasts the state’s largest freestanding Starbucks will soon be home to the city’s first Laguna Burger.
Indian Pueblos Marketing Inc., the development group tasked with redeveloping the 46-acre parcel at 12th and Menaul NW, is nearing completion of phase one of a project designed to breathe new life into the area.
Avanyu Plaza began with the first tribally owned, freestanding Starbucks in the nation, which opened in 2015. Now, the marketing agency has almost completed a 6,000-square-foot building to the north that will house Laguna Burger and another tenant that has not been disclosed.
The popular burger joint has four locations at or near the Laguna Pueblo west of Albuquerque. It has had double-digit growth in profits over each of the last few years, said Skip Sayer, chief of sales and marketing for Laguna Development Corp.
“It’s been phenomenally popular,” Sayer said. “This is one area we’ve been thinking about for awhile now, and when the opportunity came up (to move into Avanyu Plaza) we felt it was perfect.”
Laguna Burger will open in early November with a 3,000-square-foot interior and an outdoor patio that together will seat roughly 150 customers, Sayer said.
One goal of Avanyu Plaza is to employ Native Americans, according to a news release. Sayer said that is a goal Laguna Burger believes in, and the firm is happy to help meet it.
Another aim for the Avanyu development is to develop the land according to the “pueblo aesthetic,” hosting dozens of “enterprises, including office and commercial tenants ... a conference center, lodging, retail, dining, and security operations,” according to the news release.
The plaza will be built in three phases. The second phase, to begin early next year, will involve construction of a large plaza to the north of the new building that will act as a community gathering place with art, music and events.
Indian Pueblos Marketing Inc. is also tasked with infrastructure construction. The development of the land coincides with the city’s 12th Street and Menaul Great Streets Improvement Project. The city is working with the marketing group to improve roads, increase lighting, beautify the area and make the intersection more pedestrian friendly.