By Stephanie Guzman, Reporter for Albuquerque Business First:

Much attention has been given to neighborhoods along Central Avenue — from the ABQ BioPark area to the Hiland Theater area — with new investment going into communities like East Nob Hill and the Country Club area.

Yet one area that's long been a thorn in the side of the public and private sectors are areas of East Central Avenue — roughly between Wyoming and Tramway boulevards.

The city has dubbed the area "East Gateway," and has a new plan to guide investment and redevelopment along the corridor.

Officials and stakeholders been talking about improving this underserved and often blighted area since 2008, when the Albuquerque City Council passed a new 655-acre improvement zone through the Metropolitan Redevelopment Agency. The city has held public meetings and hired three different consultants to see what should be done with the area to spur economic development.

Out of that effort came the East Gateway MRA Plan, a document the City Council passed during its meeting Monday night.

The city uses several pools of money to fund projects through the MRA. Andrew Webb, a planning policy analyst with the city, told the council during its meeting that there's about $3.9 million available for property acquisition and public infrastructure for East Gateway.

The East Gateway plan recognized the area has seen some residential and commercial redevelopment over the years.

NewLife Homes redeveloped the former Luna Lodge into affordable housing. And the Daskalos family revamped the Four Hills Village Shopping Center, which now includes a Sprouts Farmers Market and Icon Cinema.

Still, the plan says the corridor is blighted with too many vacant commercial buildings that are in need of reinvestment and redevelopment. And there's opportunity to redevelop more historic properties and centrally located commercial properties, including the vacant Enchanted Mesa Trading Post and the Franklin Plaza site at Central and Juan Tabo Boulevard.

The agency plan calls for more public facilities, grants for facade improvements, and for the city to invest money in acquiring property along the corridor and find new developers for the sites. Click here to read the full article.