RETRO LOOK FOR NEW RETAIL
Construction done on Trade Winds Shopping Center; ‘neon’ sign lures potential tenants
Afamiliar name has returned to Albuquerque’s Route 66 corridor — in neon lights, no less. Construction recently wrapped up on the Trade Winds Shopping Center, a new retail development at the site of the old Trade Winds motel. The $2.2 million project at Central and San Mateo, includes a new 30-foot sign designed to replicate the property’s original 50-foot marker.
Red and blue lights — which resemble neon but are actually LED — spell out the center’s name, while additional light stripes outline the sign’s arrowhead-shaped frame.
“We wanted to bring that kind of (retro) feel back to the center, because our center is designed a little bit modern,” said Santosh Mody, whose family is behind the new Trade Winds. “To get that Route 66 feel, the sign was a big part of it.”
Mody’s family bought the Trade Winds motel 35 years ago, later rebranding it as a Travelodge. It was demolished in 2009, and the land sat empty for years. But the family hired Klinger Constructors last summer to build the new center, marking the latest in a wave of redevelopment projects near the often-troubled San Mateo/ Central intersection. The nearby Sundowner apartments and Hiland Theater have undergone major transformations in recent years.
The Trade Winds can accommodate up to 17 tenants, including a restaurant with a drive-through. No businesses have moved in yet, but Pegasus Retail’s Richard Abel, who heads the leasing effort, said he’s been “bombarded” with inquiries since crews erected the new sign last week. Interest has come from salons, medical providers and other small retail operators.