El Paso, TX (December 2, 2014) – Hunt Metro 31, LLC, an affiliate of El Paso-based Hunt Companies, Inc. (Hunt) was selected by the City of El Paso to develop a 31-acre transit-oriented mixed-use project slated to be constructed at the former Northpark Mall site in Northeast El Paso at the corner of Dyer Street and Diana Drive. The announcement was made by the El Paso Council on December 2, 2014.
The project, which is called Metro 31, will employ SmartCode development and will consist of 325 units of Class A apartments, 80 units of affordable senior housing and 48 Live/Work units featuring contemporary open floor plans and upscale finishes with resort-style amenities.
Integrated into the project will be Sun Metro’s BRIO station for northeast bus rapid transit with covered parking for commuters and a transit plaza offering transfers to regional and area destinations.
In addition, the project includes approximately 135,000 square feet of retail space anchored by a grocery store and up to 100,000 square feet of modern commercial office space.
The project design is organized along activated pedestrian roadways featuring shaded walkways, on-street parking and wide sidewalks with outdoor seating areas for food and beverage establishments. Parks and plazas will be sprinkled throughout including a central square along with ample parking for the residents, retail customers and transit riders in easily accessible street, surface and garage conditions.
The site represents a significant in-fill opportunity and the promise of revitalizing this important transit intersection as a true live-work-play-ride activity hub. The City of El Paso purchased the property and demolished the Northpark Mall complex. The site remained vacant while the City formulated its redevelopment priorities and then solicited competitive offers from qualified developers to recover the public investment and partner in the execution of that vision.
The site is currently bordered on two sides with open drainage channels that will be converted into landscaped urban arroyos with trail access for pedestrians and the development includes numerous water management elements such as storm water harvesting from roofs and garages and cistern storage for irrigation; previous paving for groundwater recharge and will serve as a model for future development in our arid region.
“We are extremely gratified to have been selected by the community we call home,” said Gary Sapp, Executive Vice President of Hunt. “The City asked participating developers to be bold in their proposals so we included up-scale elements and designs that we are seeing and developing in other progressive communities around the country. This is one of those projects that will have a transformative impact on Northeast El Paso and one that will be unique in the entire community. We look forward to working with the City of El Paso and Representative Carl Robinson in sharing our plan with the community and seeing that vision become a reality.”
About Hunt
Hunt Companies, Inc. is a national developer, investor and manager of real assets providing a broad range of services to public and private sector clients. Founded in 1947 and headquartered in El Paso, Texas, Hunt has more than 1,200 employees across the United States. Together, Hunt and its affiliates’ assets under management include 271,770 multifamily units and 5.2 million square feet of office, retail and industrial properties. Hunt has also developed 89,000 housing units, over 1 million square feet of commercial space and thousands of acres of land. Hunt has offices throughout the United States, including Atlanta, Boston, Chicago, Columbia (SC), Dallas, Denver, El Paso, Fort Lauderdale, Honolulu, Los Angeles, Miami, New York, Philadelphia, Sacramento, San Francisco and Washington, D.C., and international offices in Abu Dhabi, London and Mexico City. To learn more about Hunt, please visit www.huntcompanies.com.
