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Retail Vacancies Nag the Nob Hill Core, But Changes Expected

‘This is the jewel of our city’; ‘there’s still a lot of appeal’

By Damon Scott

Nob Hill’s business core has a lingering number of high-profile vacancies, but the extent of the problem varies depending on who you ask about it.

Nob Hill News recently conducted an informal inventory of Central Avenue-facing businesses between Girard Boulevard and Washington Street—a large part of the area’s main business district—and counted 143 total storefronts with 27 vacancies, about a 19% vacancy rate.

For context, Albuquerque’s vacancy rate for all retail categories in the first quarter of 2025 was 7.1%, according to real estate firm Colliers International. Nob Hill’s 19% rate performs better, however, when compared to the city’s urban retail vacancy rate (which includes big box stores) of 27.75% in Q1.