Cinelease lists Albuquerque studio for $34 million while expanding ties with Netflix

A major Albuquerque film facility is on the market, but its current owner isn’t going anywhere.

Cinelease Studios — a division of Cinelease Inc., which offers facilities, services and light and grip equipment to film and television productions across North America — is selling its roughly 500,000-square-foot film campus at 9201 Pan American NE with the intent of renting it back for 10 years, Cinelease President Mark Lamberton told the Journal.

The property was listed for $33.9 million roughly three weeks ago, Lamberton said.

“We’re going to stay there,” Lamberton noted. “The reason we’re selling is we own no locations. We lease all our locations with the exception of this one, that our previous owner bought at the time because it just made sense for them.”

Cinelease Inc. was recently acquired by Zello, a private investment company headquartered in California, just over six weeks ago, Lamberton said.

“The idea is to sell this, lease it back, continue to run and manage it, and then we can kind of reallocate that money toward things we’re going to need in that market to grow,” Lamberton said.

The lighting and grip provider first established a presence in Albuquerque in 2007, leasing a former warehouse at 531 Gallatin NW. The company expanded and bet big on the Duke City when it purchased the former I-25 Studios on Pan American Freeway and rebranded the facility as Cinelease Studios — Albuquerque in 2022.

The massive studio features five sound stages spanning more than 100,000 square feet; 41,000 square feet of office space; five acres of backlot space; 75,000 square feet of flex space; 34,000 square feet of storage; more than 15 acres of parking; and a cafeteria that can seat 200 people, according to a fact sheet the company provided. The film site spans 45 acres with around-the-clock gated security, the fact sheet said.

The property has hit the market more than a year after Cinelease announced it would invest $95 million into expanding the Pan American facility over five years.

None of the plans to expand the facility’s studio space have panned out yet, Lamberton said, adding the company would “need help from somebody that would want to own the real estate to take that on.”

Cinelease has laid a foundation for expansion by investing millions into improving the facility “to get it to a level where it could handle that type of expansion,” Lamberton said.

Since acquiring the campus in 2022, Cinelease has enhanced sound stage infrastructure, renovated production offices, expanded and paved parking lots, upgraded fire and safety systems, relocated the main entrance off the frontage road and constructed a multi-lane, 24-hour manned security gate, the property fact sheet said.

But whether the studio expansion takes place will be up to the property’s future buyer, Lamberton said.

Industry slowdown

The property’s availability comes as New Mexico’s film industry has experienced a slowdown over the last several years, fueled in part by SAG-AFTRA strikes in 2023 and productions opting to shoot overseas.

The amount film productions spent in New Mexico decreased from roughly $740 million in fiscal year 2024 to $323 million in fiscal year 2025, according to a June economic impact report from the New Mexico Film Office. However, the number of productions increased from 62 in FY24 to 76 in FY25.

The report attributes this to a greater share of smaller-scale projects taking place over the past year. Productions had an average budget of $4.25 million in FY25, down from an average of more than $12 million per project in FY24.

“The data reflects New Mexico’s continued relevance as a production destination, particularly for higher-budget projects when industry conditions are favorable,” the report said.

Some of the productions that have filmed at Cinelease Studios-Albuquerque include “Unbroken,” “The Cleaning Lady,” “Stranger Things” and “El Tigre.”

CBRE, the commercial real estate company responsible for listing the Cinelease property, touts New Mexico’s competitive film incentive program and network of studios and crew as draws for purchasing the property.

The buyer would essentially be investing in the property by purchasing it, and in return, would benefit from collecting steady rent from a guaranteed tenant for 10 years, as the Pan American facility is “essential” to Cinelease’s operations in New Mexico, CBRE said.

“It’s our flagship location. It’s not just the film stages and the productions that rent there, but also the equipment that is rented for those productions or anywhere else in New Mexico goes out of this facility,” Lamberton said.

Netflix partnership

The move to sell and lease back the property has already opened up new opportunities, with the company recently signing a long-term lease with Netflix for a roughly 20,000-square-foot warehouse at Netflix Studios Albuquerque, where Cinelease — a preferred vendor of Netflix — will store and provide equipment.

The partnership will increase the number of large productions Cinelease can support, as well as create an “added convenience” for productions coming to Netflix Studios Albuquerque, Lamberton said.

“By doing this long-term leaseback, that’s going to allow us to do this deal with Netflix,” Lamberton said.

The expansion with a location at Netflix is an indicator of Cinelease’s optimism about the status and direction of New Mexico’s film industry, Lamberton said.

“We really do think it’s going to get busy,” he said.

The Cinelease president said he hopes the long-term nature of both the partnership with Netflix and the leaseback terms of the Pan American campus listing set the record straight on Cinelease’s future in New Mexico.

“It’s important to us to make sure people know that not only are we not leaving, we’re doubling down on the market,” Lamberton said. “We really do believe in the market. We want to take it bigger there and we’re making the investments to do so.”