Hold off on making reservations at El Vado just yet.

If the city goes ahead with its plans to purchase or condemn the Route 66-era motel on Central Avenue and restore it as a tourist destination, it could be a good long while before there are rooms at the inn.

At least, that's judging by the city's record of trying to do something similar with the historic De Anza Motor Lodge on Central Avenue east of Nob Hill.

The city bought the De Anza in 2003 from a private owner, in response to a neighborhood uproar that arose when the Albertsons grocery chain proposed to replace the old motel with a drug and liquor store.

At the time, the city plan was to rehabilitate the property, possibly as a boutique motel, to serve as a catalyst for revitalizing the blighted area.

But nearly five years later, the property remains fenced and boarded and little has changed in the neighborhood.

By way of contrast, the 261-room Embassy Suites hotel at I-25 and Lomas Boulevard Northeast went from an empty lot to a grand opening in less than a year and a half.

"Are these things easy to do?" asked Richard Dineen, director of the city's Department of Planning. "No, they're not. There are very few of these old-era hotels that have been turned around. It's new science."

Dineen said that lack of a "prototype" has made progress on the De Anza slow. But he said several factors would make the resurrection of El Vado easier and quicker to accomplish.

Those factors include a more favorable location (El Vado is near tourist draws like the Rio Grande Zoo), and the fact there are no additional complications, such as the murals depicting sacred Zuni Pueblo scenes at the De Anza that must be protected.

The city objects to El Vado owner Richard Gonzales' plans to demolish the building, which it has designated as a historic landmark. It is proceeding with condemnation of the property and plans to make its redevelopment a "high priority," Dineen said.

A consultant has evaluated possibilities for making El Vado a "destination motel" — the city's first choice for its reuse, much as it was for the De Anza.

"I think we've learned a little bit from the De Anza," Dineen said.

A retrospective look, however, shows the lessons learned consist more of what mistakes to avoid than what steps to take for a successful outcome.

It took the city until last September — almost five years after buying the property — to reach a purchase agreement with De Anza LLC, a development group headed by Matthew Terry, an Albuquerque accountant, and his financial backer, Gerald Landgraf.

That agreement is in its first phase, with the developer allowed on site to perform feasibility and financial studies.

The actual sale of the property — for $1 but with strict, contractual stipulations about how it could be developed — would not occur until the next phase. Work on the property, which begins with city removal of hazardous substances like asbestos, also is part of Phase Two.

Moreover, the developer can back out anytime before reaching Phase Two.

Though De Anza LLC recently was granted an extension until June, Dineen says he remains optimistic.

"They've got the wherewithal to do this, and I think they really want to do it," he said.

Terry, reached by phone Monday, declined to comment other than to say: "We're moving forward with the process, but we don't have anything to add at this time."

The unique artwork at the De Anza does not appear to be holding up progress. The depiction of dancers at a winter Shalako ceremony was painted by Zuni artist Tony Edaakie in 1951; they are the only ones of their kind known to exist other than at the Pueblo.

Zuni Pueblo wrote a letter of support for the project to the city, although it urged "careful restoration and appropriate public presentation" of the murals.

The nonprofit Route 66 De Anza Association — formed to preserve and protect the murals and other significant architectural aspects of the motel — obtained a Department of Transportation grant of $243,000 in 2005 to create a museum in the building. The group has been forced to "turn over" the grant three times while waiting on development progress, said Elizabeth Chestnut, vice president of the association.

"Our frustration is with the pace of the negotiations and the content as regards the future development of the property," she said.

Regardless of the differences between the two landmark properties, El Vado redevelopment would still have to proceed through several processes that have delayed the De Anza.

The first is getting the neighborhood around El Vado designated a "redevelopment area" in order to free up funding sources and incentives. Dineen predicted that would take several months; a similar process with the De Anza took almost a year.

The next step would be to put out a request for proposals from developers. This was also done with the De Anza.

Though Dineen said the city was open to development proposals from anywhere, the RFPs for the De Anza were circulated only in New Mexico. It took three RFPs before a suitable bidder was found — and nearly three years of negotiations after that before the city reached the contract with De Anza LLC last fall.

Edith Cherry, a partner in Cherry/See/Reames Architecture and a former University of New Mexico architecture professor, said finding a developer with historical preservation experience could help move things along — something that might require a nationwide search.

"You won't run into so many unknowns and surprises if you have an expert in the field," she said.

In any case, there are substantial challenges to restoring a historic property to its original use, Cherry said.

Among them: the need to meet today's more rigorous building codes; the additional expense of retaining or restoring archaic design elements; and determining whether the perceived market for the property's eventual use will make it financially feasible.

Dineen said the city is aware of the challenges and realistic about possibly having to settle for "mixed use" for El Vado.

"Sometimes you just can't convert it to what it was, but you can preserve the building," he said. "Ideally, to get both is what we'd love to do. We are trying to hold out for that."

Dineen said the city considers El Vado a priority. But he refrained from predicting a time frame regarding its progress.

"We will get the redevelopment designation in place in the next several months, we will do the RFP as expeditiously as possible, and depending on if we get it through condemnation or settlement, we will do everything in our power to give it a high priority," he said. "Other than that, I can't say when it will happen."

Meanwhile, the city's planning and legal departments, De Anza LLC and the Route 66 De Anza Association will meet Feb. 27 to try to nudge along progress on the long-stalled De Anza.

Originally published online here: http://www.abqtrib.com/news/2008/feb/21/albuquerque-landmarks-along-route-66-face-slow-pro/