$12M Makeover Advances for Historic Hotel

Hotel owner Gary Goodman signed Gemstone to a three-year contract with renewal options after a "best and final" round with two others to become overseer of the city's first true boutique hotel, says Sandra G. Morrill Esparza, regional director for the Park City, UT-based Gemstone. Goodman bought the hotel in March 2005 for $4 million in a bankruptcy auction; then set about planning an innovative renovation and restoration for the Downtown landmark at 125 Second St. NW.

"Gemstone was pretty appealing because they really specialize in unique properties and we want to make a unique property," Goodman COO James Dobbie tells GlobeSt.com. "They really wanted to roll up their sleeves, dive in and help us get this done."

Goodman started work in December 2005 after the last scheduled event in the hotel's majestic ballroom. La Posada's rooms went dark last summer in anticipation of the full shutdown to accommodate a renovation that marries solar systems to late 1930s construction, Esparza explains. The 10-story hotel was the fourth one to be built by New Mexico native, Conrad Hilton, who honeymooned in one of the suites with Zsa Zsa Gabor.

Esparza says the exterior, lobby and all public areas will be restored according to National Trust guidelines, but previously altered areas like rooms and the conference area will undergo full makeovers. The lion's share of the cost, though, is embedded in Goodman's top-of-the-line solar systems to create an environmentally friendly hotel with cutting-edge energy conservation equipment featuring solar hot water heating. "We believe the La Posada will become a model for all future hotels," Goodman says in a press release, citing a goal to lower energy costs by 50% from that of a comparably sized conventional hotel.

La Posada is being mapped out as an urban cultural center, including art exhibits and an artist-in-residence program. The work also will add an interactive events kiosk; theater area for Native American, symphony and jazz performances; 8,000 sf of meeting space; two restaurants with sidewalk and rooftop dining; and guest rooms with free high-speed Internet access, ergonomic work areas and "experience-style" showers. "We are accentuating and celebrating its past yet giving it a contemporary curve to meet the everyday needs of the travelers," Esparza emphasizes.

La Posada is Goodman's only hotel property. "We saw this hotel as a unique opportunity. Nobody can go in and build something like this," Dobbie says. "The history that it has in Albuquerque culture runs very deep."

Leading preservationist Steven Kells, principal of Kells & Craig Architects Inc. in Albuquerque, handled the design work for the Spanish Colonial-style property. Goodman Realty's in-house construction team is the general contractor. CMMI of Atlanta is the interior designer.