New Mexico launches online map of development-ready sites to attract businesses

Companies looking to expand to New Mexico can now view land available for development through a new online tool launched this week by the state Economic Development Department.

The map shows the 47 sites across New Mexico that have been assessed through the state’s site-readiness program, which began early last year. The program hopes to attract out-of-state companies to New Mexico by preparing land so that it’s “shovel ready” for development.

The plots of land are in various sizes and spread out across the state. The map shows details like who owns the land, the price to buy or rent, the utilities available, and whether any further renovations are needed. 

Fourteen sites are currently available in the Albuquerque metropolitan area, including 1,044 acres at the Double Eagle II airport to the west of the city.

Legislation signed by the governor last year appropriated $24 million from the state’s general fund to start the site readiness program with the intention of making New Mexico more attractive to out-of-state developers than other neighboring states.

“Working with colleagues in Florida, Tennessee and other places, I saw their programs around site readiness, economic development, recruitment, and, frankly, was jealous about the technology and data available that other states had,” state Economic Development Secretary Rob Black said.

Black said he knows of “maybe four or five other states” that have equivalent site-readiness technology.

“We’re very excited that we’re not just catching up, but we’re going to be leading around these sorts of tools,” he said. “The ability to have data dashboards — (an) easily accessible way to market the state through quantifiable information, to me, was really, really important.”

Officials consider factors including a site’s environment, utility access, transportation, traffic and zoning laws when evaluating a location. Properties can be under municipal, tribal or private ownership.

So far, the program has attracted one company to New Mexico, said EDD spokesperson Chris Chaffin: Amazon will open a location in Roswell, chosen through the site-readiness initiative.

“It’s been a really good response from around the state,” Black said.

Natalie Robbins covers the economy and health care for the Journal. You can reach her at nrobbins@abqjournal.com.