Nob Hill Business Center is a historic

shopping center A shopping center (American English) or shopping centre (Commonwealth English), also called a shopping complex, shopping arcade, shopping plaza or galleria, is a group of shops built together, sometimes under one roof. The first known collec ...

Albuquerque Albuquerque ( ; ), ; kee, Arawageeki; tow, Vakêêke; zun, Alo:ke:k'ya; apj, Gołgéeki'yé. abbreviated ABQ, is the most populous city in the U.S. state of New Mexico. Its nicknames, The Duke City and Burque, both reference its founding in ...

New Mexico ) , population_demonym = New Mexican ( es, Neomexicano, Neomejicano, Nuevo Mexicano) , seat = Santa Fe , LargestCity = Albuquerque , LargestMetro = Tiguex , OfficialLang = None , Languages = English, Spanish ( New Mexican), Navajo, Ker ...

. Built in 1946–7, it was the first modern suburban shopping center in New Mexico, and its construction marked a shift away from pedestrian-oriented development in Albuquerque in favor of decentralized, auto-oriented sprawl. Located on Central Avenue (former

U.S. Route 66 U.S. Route 66 or U.S. Highway 66 (US 66 or Route 66) was one of the original highways in the United States Numbered Highway System. It was established on November 11, 1926, with road signs erected the following year. The h ...

) at Carlisle Boulevard, the building is the focal point of the

Nob Hill Nob Hill is a neighborhood of San Francisco, California, United States that is known for its numerous luxury hotels and historic mansions. Nob Hill has historically served as a center of San Francisco's upper class. Nob Hill is among the highes ...

district. The shopping center was developed by Robert Waggoman on what was then the eastern fringe of the city, more than two miles from the

downtown ''Downtown'' is a term primarily used in North America by English speakers to refer to a city's sometimes commercial, cultural and often the historical, political and geographic heart. It is often synonymous with its central business distric ...

commercial district. Local commentators dubbed the project "Waggoman's Folly" because it was so far from the center of town, but the shopping center turned out to be a major success and served as a model for future commercial development in Albuquerque. The building was added to the

New Mexico State Register of Cultural Properties The New Mexico State Register of Cultural Properties is a register of historic and prehistoric properties located in the state of New Mexico. It is maintained by the New Mexico Historic Preservation Division of the New Mexico Department of Cultura ...

in 1983 and the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic v ...

in 1994. Nob Hill Business Center is a one-story, U-shaped building with an interior parking lot facing Central Avenue. The building was designed by Louis Hesselden in a predominantly

Streamline Moderne Streamline Moderne is an international style of Art Deco architecture and design that emerged in the 1930s. Inspired by aerodynamic design, it emphasized curving forms, long horizontal lines, and sometimes nautical elements. In industrial design ...

style with rounded corners, decorative towers, and white stucco walls with horizontal bands of terra cotta tile and brick. Some of the architectural features are also reminiscent of the local Territorial Revival style.

References

{{reflist Buildings and structures in Albuquerque, New Mexico Commercial buildings on the National Register of Historic Places in New Mexico Shopping malls established in 1947 Buildings and structures on U.S. Route 66 Streamline Moderne architecture in New Mexico New Mexico State Register of Cultural Properties 1947 establishments in New Mexico National Register of Historic Places in Albuquerque, New Mexico