The brownfield site was a vacant 20 acre lot between Coronado and Winrock Malls, originally the site of St. Pius X High School. The school was razed in the late 1980s to make room for an ambitious mixed-use development called The Commons, which would have included two 22-story office towers and a 14-story hotel. However, this project fell apart and the land remained vacant. The lot was purchased and designed as a mixed-use development zone by Hunt Building Corporation, including a lifestyle center, housing, offices, and a grocery store. In November 2006, ABQ Uptown was opened, and brought more retail chains to the area, including several stores that previously did not serve Albuquerque or New Mexico, such as the state's only Apple Store. Below the infill site, a three level, 300 space parking garage was built to facilitate extra parking.
