Texas developer buys 272 acres near Santa Teresa Port of Entry for planned industrial park

SANTA TERESA — A purchase of key real estate four miles north of the Santa Teresa Port of Entry, announced this week, is the latest move in the growing interest in the Santa Teresa and Sunland Park region, adjacent to the border and West Texas. 

The New Mexico-El Paso office of Colliers announced it had closed a deal with Texas-based Killam Development for 272 acres of land northwest of the intersection of N.M. 136 and Strauss Road. Colliers told the Journal the price would not be disclosed. 

Killam indicated it would begin engineering design and development of the land for a future industrial park early in 2026, capitalizing on its location on the key artery for commercial traffic moving through the sixth busiest port at the U.S.-Mexico border. 

“We are excited to partner with Killam Development, which is an experienced and knowledgeable developer, and looking forward to bringing their vision of the Avila Industrial Park to fruition,” Colliers Senior Vice President Bob Feinberg, who helped broker the deal, said in a written statement. “This is a prime location for businesses, manufacturers, and anyone who wants to do business and service the growing needs in the Borderplex region, which is where you want to be right now.” 

Among the site’s features highlighted by Killam President Cliffe Killam is “water and sewer infrastructure that is ready to go.” The parcel falls within the Santa Teresa Industrial Park Service Area of Camino Real Regional Utility Authority, the water utility founded in 2009 under a joint agreement between Doña Ana County and Sunland Park. 

County commissioners voted to exit the pact this spring, initiating a four-year process of dissolution in which the utility will be absorbed into the neighboring city’s utility department and the county will assume responsibility for sewer and water service in the county outside city limits. Both the city and the county have promised a seamless transition for customers with no interruptions to service. 

Killam said the site’s strategic location was “at the right inflection point to capture the existing and growing demand in the area for logistics and manufacturing space.” The development contemplates offerings including build-to-suit lots, ground leases and land sales. 

It is located within a designated overweight cargo zone, allowing heavier trucks from Mexico to carry freight through the border for unloading; and close to the county’s airport and Union Pacific railroad’s intermodal hub. 

Just across the state highway, Dallas-based developers Terry and Devon McLachlan plan to build Alta Mesa Estates, a nearly 1,200-acre community of 3,400 single-family homes, over 1,000 apartments and 130 acres of commercial development. County commissioners approved a preliminary plat for the project in January.

The planned Avila Industrial Park sits a little over a mile from newly annexed territory by Sunland Park, where developers plan mixed commercial and residential development as the city’s growing population expands closer to industrial zones in Santa Teresa. 

It is also about two miles from the site where a hyperscale AI data center built for use by Oracle Cloud Infrastructure and OpenAI is under construction. 

“Thanks to its strategic location, the surge in nearshoring demand, and the growing number of companies committing to the area, the Santa Teresa market is positioned to emerge as a leading hub for industrial development and growth,” Colliers Senior Vice President Tom Jones said.