New Details Emerge for Montecillo Town Center

By Armando Landin   

A greater number of apartments and less street retail space are some of the details discovered in recent renderings and leasing listings for the Montecillo Town Center, the smart growth development currently under construction in West El Paso.

Retail and mixed-use buildings surround a plaza at the future Montecillo Town Center, currently under construction on El Paso's West Side. (EPT Communities)

As vertical construction nears, we're getting a clearer picture of the final layout for the buildings that will make up the Town Center and the form those buildings will take.

Alamo Drafthouse Now Hiring 200 Employees for West El Paso Location

By Armando Landin

The latest addition to the Montecillo smart growth development in West El Paso is now hiring in anticipation of its opening. Alamo Drafthouse cinema seeks 200 employees for its upcoming location.

The Alamo Drafthouse is now hiring for its West El Paso location, shown in this rendering. It will be an anchor tenant in the upcoming Montecillo Town Center. (Alamo Drafthouse/Triple Tap Ventures)

The new movie house will be an anchor tenant in the Montecillo Town Center, located at Mesa Street and Montecillo Boulevard. No other tenants have been announced for the center, which is part of the larger Montecillo development.

Details on Alamo Drafthouse Groundbreaking

Construction of Movie House May Take Less Than a Year

El Paso politicians and businesspersons alike attended a groundbreaking ceremony last Thursday for what will become the Alamo Drafthouse movie theater building at the future Montecillo Town Center on the city’s West Side. It will be the first building to break ground at the Town Center site.

An artist’s rendering of the Alamo Drafthouse theater building under construction in West El Paso. (Triple Tap Ventures)

The movie house will be situated in the upper area of the Town Center, with parking located behind the building and hidden from view. The theater will have eight screens with about 850 seats in total. The structure will be over 30,000 square feet in size, according to the Town Center site plan.

Alamo Drafthouse is known for serving restaurant food to patrons before and during the movie. Neil Michaelsen, Chief Executive Officer and President of Triple Tap Ventures, explained this to local film critic and historian Charles Horak in a recent interview with KTEP (ktep.org).

The Alamo Drafthouse theater building will be located in the upper area of the Montecillo Town Center. A groundbreaking was held last week for the eight screen movie house, which could open in early spring according to the theater’s developer. (Site Plan: www.montecillo.com)

“You sit down, there’s a table in front of you, and there’s a menu right underneath the table. In a very old-school format, you write your order on a piece of paper.”

Weekly Edition, Issue 58

The Weekly Edition, Issue 58 has arrived! Take a look at the newest issue of our Weekly Edition, by clicking HERE. (Note: The newsletter will open in PDF format.)

In this edition:

• Details on Alamo Drafthouse Theater Groundbreaking
• Retail Update: Kona Grill, Hana Banana Now Open at Fountains
• MCA Foundation Eyes New Location for Cardwell Collaborative Biomedical Bldg.

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A Bird's Eye View of the Montecillo Town Center Project

Local contractor firm, ZTEX Construction (www.ztexconst.com), posted a new vantage point earlier this month for the upcoming Montecillo Town Center in West El Paso.

This aerial photograph, posted in mid-January by ZTEX Construction of El Paso, shows progress at the Montecillo Town Center project. (facebook.com/ztexconst)

The image is a bird’s eye view of the construction site looking west. The 50-acre plus project includes moving a massive amount of dirt to make room for the Town Center, which will be constructed on a heavily sloped property.

No less than eleven structures will be built at the Town Center and will include retail, office, and residential space. An Alamo Drafthouse theater has been the only tenant announced to date.

Another view from within the Montecillo Town Center construction site, this one from ground level looking northeast. (facebook.com/ztexconst)

The new image posted by ZTEX was taken using a small remote-controlled helicopter with a camera on board. Mesa Street can be seen at the western edge of the site, with the Venue at Montecillo apartment buildings across the street.

ZTEX Construction has worked on several large-scale projects in the area, including the Fountains at Farah shopping center, the Outlet Shoppes at El Paso, and the downtown Triple-A baseball stadium.

Weekly Edition, Issue 41

The Weekly Edition, Issue 41 has arrived! Take a look at the newest issue of our Weekly Edition, by clicking HERE. (Note: The newsletter will open in PDF format.)

In this edition:

• More Housing for Downtown Area: Multi-Story Apartment Building Seeks City Approval
• Upper Valley Residential Development Seeks Public Input: Developer to Hold Charrette this Week
• Get a Bird's Eye View of the Montecillo Town Center Project
• Office Park Expands in West El Paso

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Montecillo Makes Big Moves

Project Readies for Town Center, Westward Expansion

Site preparation has finally begun on what will eventually become the Montecillo Town Center, part of the 292-acre Montecillo SmartCode development on El Paso’s West Side. Crews are clearing the way for the development’s “Entertainment District” which will house the Alamo Drafthouse movie theater that was announced as the first tenant earlier this year.

Construction machinery is helping to clear and level the site of the future Montecillo Town Center. The Alamo Drafthouse theater will be located here.

The property is currently a valley between two hills with relatively steep slopes on the eastern side of Mesa Street across from the Venue at Montecillo’s two northernmost apartment buildings. Parts of the property will be levelled to make construction of buildings more viable.

According to the Town Center’s leasing package, the project will add 37,000 square feet of big box retail, 80,000 square feet of “street” retail, and 56,200 square feet of commercial space. The move theater will consist of a 31,100 square foot building with 910 seats.

The View at Montecillo will offer housing options for seniors in El Paso. The 150-unit structure is under construction on El Paso’s west side.

There are 99 residential units planned for the site which will be incorporated into mixed-use buildings. And 1,165 parking spaces will be spread out among surface lots, parking structures, and on-street parking.

Weekly Edition, Issue 35

The Weekly Edition, Issue 35 has arrived! Take a look at the newest issue of our Weekly Edition, by clicking HERE. (Note: The newsletter will open in PDF format.)

In this edition:

• Montecillo Makes Big Moves: Project Readies for Town Center, Westward Expansion
• City Working on Palisades Canyon Trailhead Design
• Ballpark Traffic Study Findings to be Released: Construction on Stadium Continues at Steady Pace
• NewsBits by El Paso DevWire

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Montecillo Unveils Town Center Site Plan

Project Includes 99 Residential Units

The developer of the Montecillo SmartCode project on El Paso’s west side is preparing to break ground on the future Town Center area of the development. Now, a site plan has appeared on Montecillo’s website (www.eptmontecillo.com) as part of a brochure highlighting the Town Center.

Montecillo's Town Center site plan shows several blocks with retail, office, and residential uses. (eptmontecillo.com)

Eight “blocks” make up the Town Center, which largely resembles the layout shown in a concept video that was released last year. Montecillo Drive winds through the area, taking a curving northeasterly route that will eventually lead up to a housing area to the east.

The first block in the lifestyle center will contain the 910-seat Alamo Drafthouse movie theater that was announced earlier this year. It is located in the easternmost part of the Town Center, along with a 12,000 square foot, two level office building. It includes the largest parking area on the site, a 444 space lot that will be placed behind the two buildings.

Block number two is situated on the northwestern corner of the center. The main east-west street will run in front of two dynamically-shaped buildings in this block. The larger, embedded building will have 13,000 square feet of retail and 56 residential units on 2.5 levels, according to the brochure. The smaller building, part of which faces Mesa Street, will have 5,000 square feet of retail and 24,000 square feet of office space. Two parking lots and some street parking will contribute 191 spaces in this block.

The Town Center is just a small part of the larger 292 acre Montecillo SmartCode development. (eptmontecillo.com)

The third block is surrounded by streets on all sides, including Mesa Street. It contains 24,000 square feet of retail distributed among two buildings with a pedestrian passageway that splits them. The buildings look to have nearly zero-setbacks with on-street parking contributing 75 spaces.

Details on Alamo Drafthouse Montecillo Location

Alamo Drafthouse Cinemas, the Austin-based movie theater chain, has announced a new El Paso location via a news release on the company's website. The new theater will be located at the Montecillo SmartCode development on El Paso's west side.

The new theater building will include nine screens, each equipped with 100 percent digital projection. Alamo theater auditoriums also eliminate the neck-straining front row to ensure a high quality view from each seat. The theater combines a movie cinema and restaurant experience; audience members can discretely order food and drinks from roaming servers who stealthily move about the rows. Long, narrow tables sit in front of each row of seats.

Narrow tables sit in front of moviegoers.

Alamo Drafthouse also has a strict No Texting/No Talking policy wherein a patron will receive one warning before being asked to leave with no refund. Children under six are also not permitted along with unaccompanied minors.

Concept of Montecillo's Entertainment District. The Alamo Drafthouse
could be housed in this "town center" section.

The press release indicates the theater building will be located with the Montecillo Town Center area. This could be the previously teased Montecillo Entertainment District, on the eastern side of Mesa Street. If so, this would make Alamo Drafthouse the first announced tenant for the district.

Alamo Drafthouse's Vintage Park location
in Houston.

No timeline has been provided for the project, which will be developed in partnership with Triple Tap Ventures, LLC, of Houston. Triple Tap owns and operates Houston area Alamo Drafthouse locations.

Related: Montecillo Introduces its 'Entertainment District'

News Release: http://drafthouse.com/blog/entry/alamo_drafthouse_announces_first_ever_el_paso_location
Website: http://drafthouse.com/el_paso/montecillo