The former home of O'Niell's Pub at 4310 Central Ave. SE in Albuquerque's Nob Hill neighborhood is on the market for $1.2 million, opening the door to one of the largest redevelopment opportunities left along the historic Route 66 corridor. The 1.34-acre property includes 13 platted lots with frontage along Central Avenue and a 10,549-square-foot building that once held a restaurant, event space, and office.
The listing totals roughly 58,540 square feet across the combined lots and describes the 1.34-acre property as a rare redevelopment opportunity.
Whatever comes next will have to answer a central question hanging over the sale: does a buyer renovate the existing single-story pub building for continued commercial use, or clear the site entirely to chase the zoning bonuses the parcel now qualifies for? The property sits in an MX-M zone under Albuquerque's Integrated Development Ordinance and falls within the Nob Hill/Highland CPO-8 Subarea 3 overlay, which allows base building heights of five stories, or 65 feet, Albuquerque Business First reports. Developers who add workforce housing, structured parking, or ground-floor commercial space can push that up to seven stories, or 89 feet.
Tax Incentives and Transit Access Sweeten the Deal
The site also qualifies for potential property tax freezes lasting seven to 14 years under the Central/Highland/Upper Nob Hill Metropolitan Redevelopment Area program, according to the Resolut RE listing. That kind of municipal incentive is designed to spur private investment along commercial corridors, and it adds financial weight to the case for a larger mixed-use or multifamily project rather than a simple pub revival.
Location is another selling point. The parcel sits directly adjacent to the Albuquerque Rapid Transit Highland Station, giving any future development direct bus rapid transit access along Central Avenue, the same listing notes.
A Nob Hill Anchor's Final Chapter
O'Niell's Irish Pub first opened in Nob Hill in 1994 and moved into the 4310 Central Ave. SE building in 2006, where it operated for roughly two decades before closing permanently in November 2024. Owners at the time cited rising food costs and lingering post-pandemic financial pressure, according to The Paper. The closure wasn't an isolated event — it landed in the same week as the shutdowns of fellow longtime corridor businesses Slice Parlor and Salt and Board, a cluster of closures that stoked community worry about economic headwinds facing small businesses along the strip.
The O'Niell's name hasn't disappeared from Albuquerque entirely. The brand's second location on Juan Tabo Boulevard in the Northeast Heights, opened in 2010, continues to operate as a standalone suburban pub, according to Gil's Thrilling (And Filling) Blog.
Zoning Rules Set the Stage for What's Next
Any rezoning or building plans for the Central Avenue site will be evaluated under the city's updated Integrated Development Ordinance, amended through Ordinance O-26-10 and effective since May 6, 2026, according to the City of Albuquerque. The Integrated Development Ordinance sets zoning rules across the city's neighborhoods, including how overlay zones like CPO-8 apply to land-use transitions in Nob Hill.
For now, the property remains listed with its existing restaurant infrastructure intact, leaving open whether a buyer will lean into renovation or demolition. Either path would reshape one of Upper Nob Hill's most visible corners, a stretch of Central Avenue where O'Niell's closure came amid other longtime businesses' closure announcements.
