WECK’S ON RISE
New restaurant near Cottonwood Mall to be chain’s 13th
One of Albuquerque’s largest restaurant chains is getting a little bit larger.
Weck’s has signed on for a new location at Alameda West, the Albertsons-anchored center just north of Cottonwood Mall. The Albuquerque breakfast-and-lunch chain will raze what was once a teriyaki fast-food eatery and build a new restaurant in its place.
The new Weck’s — the 11th company-owned store and 13th overall — should open by early 2017, according the chain’s area director, Joe Garcia.
The deal comes amid other significant developments for the company, which is wrapping work on its first-ever ground-up location. That restaurant, on Juan Tabo near Lomas, will replace the existing Weck’s up the street at 1105 Juan Tabo NE.
“A lot of things are happening, and we’re really excited and thankful to the community for supporting us for 25 years,” said Garcia, noting that the chain that originated on a strip mall at Louisiana and Montgomery now has more than 400 employees.
Weck’s, owned by Art Kaplan since 2004, will build its Alameda West restaurant among a restaurant pad cluster that already includes Bahama Buck’s and will soon feature California Pastrami.
The new additions are part of a larger transformation at the property. When Art Gardenswartz and wife, Sonya Priestly, bought the shopping center in late 2014, it was only 69 percent occupied. Weck’s will lift occupancy above 90 percent, said CBRE’s Lia Armstrong, who handles leasing its leasing with colleague Jim Dountas.