ABQjournal: Growth in One-Story Nob Hill Seems Tied to Taller Buildings – but Not Too Tall By Richard Metcalf, Journal Staff Writer
A citizens advisory committee has come up with a two-tiered approach to limit building height in the Central Avenue corridor:
# Up to 39 feet in Nob Hill’s “historic core” bounded by Girard on the west and Carlisle on the east, which is the shopping and entertainment district.
# Up to 54 feet in what is being called “emerging” or eastern Nob Hill, bounded by Carlisle on the west and Washington on the east.
As a rule of thumb in a mixed-used building, first-floor commercial space will have about 14- or 15-foot ceilings. The upper residential floors will each take up about 10 feet. Thus 54 feet would likely be five stories.
“The idea was to start with the lowest height in the historic core and gradually increase the height as you go east,” said Signe Rich, chair of the commercial and transition character committee.
Factors in determining a new commercial building’s height would include topography and proximity to houses. “It really needs to be a block-by-block analysis,” Rich said.
Heinrich agreed.
“Height is a tricky thing,” he said. “What’s appropriate in one place is not appropriate in another.” …
The current Nob Hill Sector Development Plan, adopted in 1987, has a general height restriction of 26 feet that applies to both commercial and residential buildings.
The current plan, however, has a provision to allow taller commercial buildings by using a pyramid concept.
From the property lines and the middle of adjacent streets, “angle planes” are tilted toward the middle of a proposed commercial building’s lot, thus forming an invisible pyramid. The tip of the pyramid is the allowable height. …
As the new sector plan is developed, Nob Hill is being combined with the Highland area, whose Central Avenue corridor extends from Washington east to San Mateo. …
The committee recommended two limits on the height of new commercial buildings in Highland: 54 feet in the area closer to Washington; and 67 feet in the area closer to San Mateo.