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Permit filings reveal fresh details on Albuquerque鈥檚 planned In-N-Out restaurants
Applications show building sizes, specific locations and permit progress
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Modified
In-N-Out Burger has advanced the permitting process for three restaurants it has planned for Albuquerque 鈥� the latest move in the California chain鈥檚 expansion into the state.
The burger chain has for a building permit for a 5,716-square-foot restaurant and drive-thru it has planned for an empty plot of land within the Oxbow Center development at 3811 Coors NW, according to the Albuquerque Planning Department鈥檚 website.
The application, submitted on June 9, is seeking a new construction permit worth $692,563. The application was 9% complete as of Wednesday.
The city has also received an application for an In-N-Out on Gibson Boulevard, though that application does not show up on the city鈥檚 website because the site does not have an address yet, according to Tim Walsh, a spokesperson with the Planning Department. That restaurant is slated to be built just west of the fire station near Interstate 25 on Gibson.
The application for the Gibson site, submitted by the chain on March 17, is seeking an $829,924 permit to build a 3,886-square-foot restaurant with a drive-thru, according to Walsh. That application is also 9% complete, as the city is requiring In-N-Out to resubmit it.
鈥淲e鈥檙e just in that back and forth (stage). This is very common with these types of applications,鈥� Walsh said, adding the applications could be missing information or requiring corrections.
In-N-Out did not return a request for comment.
A second West Side location is slated to be built in the Cottonwood Mall area, near Dillard鈥檚. A request submitted to the Planning Department last month shows that In-N-Out is for a major amendment to the site plan for Cottonwood Mall.
The amendment would allow In-N-Out to create a roughly 1陆-acre subdivision of development-ready land within the Dillard鈥檚 parking lot, where the chain aims to build a 3,887-square-foot restaurant with a drive-thru and outdoor patio. That amendment request is 47% complete.
The city鈥檚 Environmental Planning Commission was scheduled to consider the request during a June 18 hearing, but In-N-Out requested that its case be pushed to a July 16 hearing to allow time for additional adjustments, providing a complete site plan drawing set and notifying neighborhood associations and property owners in the area. EPC staff recommended the deferral be granted, city documents show.
The latest development details come just over a year after the Journal uncovered plans for the two locations on Albuquerque鈥檚 West Side in May 2025, and nearly three years after In-N-Out first revealed it had plans to expand into New Mexico by 2027.
It鈥檚 unclear when Albuquerque鈥檚 three potential In-N-Out locations could break ground, but the necessary approvals could be right around the corner. Walsh said the average timeline from when an application is submitted to when the city issues a commercial building permit is roughly 18 business days.
With openings expected next year and from-the-ground-up projects often being more complicated, In-N-Out kickstarting the permitting process now officially gives a sense of 鈥渨hat their timing is, as far as developing these locations,鈥� Walsh said.
Kylie Garcia covers retail and real estate for the Journal. You can reach her at kgarcia@abqjournal.com.
