County reviews plans for former CB Fox building redevelopment
County officials reviewed a draft $6 million public-participation deal for the former CB Fox site, where an $18 million plan would bring retail, a food hall and a 30-room hotel.
Los Alamos County Council reviewed a proposed public-participation deal for 1735 Central Avenue, the former CB Fox building, as the county weighed $6 million in economic-development funding against an $18 million redevelopment that would change one of downtown Los Alamos’ most prominent blocks. The June 23 work-session briefing, created June 8 and marked as no action requested, put the project under the council’s Economic Vitality - Downtown Revitalization goal.
Elias Isaacson and County Manager Anne Laurent presented the item, and Central Investments is a partnership. An initial LEDA application was submitted Dec. 31, 2025, and a draft participation agreement was later prepared after several conversations about the project’s scope and the public financial request.
The redevelopment would convert the former CB Fox building into small retail spaces facing Central Avenue, a commercial kitchen and food court on the lower level, and a 30-room boutique hotel on the upper floors with a rooftop bar. The county estimated construction costs at $18 million and said the proposal is market-rate, meaning public participation would not control lease rates or room rates after the project opens. The development is also pursuing C-PACE financing for energy efficiency, with natural gas planned for the commercial kitchen and electrical service sized for a possible future electric conversion.
The finished building would contain more than 28,000 square feet and the structure was built by the federal government in the early 1950s, when Los Alamos was still federally owned. Its redevelopment also includes a performance venue, bakery café, retail storefronts and local vendor space.
CB FOX announced on Feb. 5, 2020 that its final day of business would be April 30, 2020, after 40 years in business. In December 2020, council voted 6-1 to enter a 90-day due-diligence period on possible purchases of the CB Fox and Reel Deal buildings, with a $25,000 deposit and a possible 30-day extension for another $10,000, on a combined $4 million price tag.
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