New board meets to oversee economic development at State Fairgrounds

The latest step in a multi-agency effort to overhaul Expo New Mexico, the site of the New Mexico State Fair, took place Thursday as a new board tasked with controlling a financial tool for the area met for the first time.

The board, which was created by legislation passed during this year’s 60-day legislative session, includes state officials, legislators, neighborhood representatives and city and county leaders.

Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham, Albuquerque Mayor Tim Keller, Senate President Pro Tem Mimi Stewart, D-Albuquerque, Rep. Janelle Anyanonu, D-Albuquerque, District 6 Neighborhood Coalition President Peter Belletto, Albuquerque District 6 City Councilor Nichole Rogers and Bernalillo County Commissioner Adriann Barboa attended the meeting at a pavilion located on the state fairgrounds.

“This is really about a vehicle to create financial security and opportunity across these jurisdictions, to invest in this community,” Lujan Grisham said. “This is the way that we make good on our commitment to provide meaningful resources to a community that didn’t have access for decades.”

In addition to creating the new board, the legislation approved this year implements a Tax Increment Development District, or TIDD, at the site of the State Fairgrounds. According to the legislation, the board will govern the TIDD for six years.

Multiple presentations were given to the board, including one from Stantec, an engineering consultant firm that was recently awarded an $850,000 contract to design a master plan for the redevelopment of the fairgrounds.

“We understand that urban solutions are complicated. It’s not just one person, a whole team of people, and Albuquerque has very specific needs,” said Colleen Ruiz, senior principal, community development practice leader for the company’s Albuquerque office.

Lujan Grisham announced plans late last year to convert the fairgrounds into a mixed-use development with affordable housing and relocate the State Fair.

While the governor recently said the master plan could eventually call for leasing or selling portions of state-owned Expo New Mexico to private developers, she floated the idea Thursday the annual festival might not have to find a new venue.

“I want to be really clear about that, because you’ll notice I didn’t say a plan to move (the State Fair),” Lujan Grisham said.

Also in attendance — and key to assisting the governor in the endeavor — were the state’s Economic Development Adviser Alex Greenberg and former Albuquerque Mayor Martin Chávez. Lujan Grisham joked about firing the two multiple times during the meeting.

The board will meet monthly and convene next on Aug. 7.