Rio Rancho announced plans to establish its official central business district (City Center) in early 2005. The City’s concept is for the Central Business District (CBD) to become the region’s premier destination for upscale retail, office, dining, and entertainment. The development site consists of 160 acres of property and was acquired from the New Mexico State Land Office.
The CBD is located in the geographic center of Rio Rancho’s municipal boundaries in the southwest quadrant of Section 36. Access to the CBD will be from Main Street. To enhance access to the CBD, transportation improvements to Unser Boulevard and Paseo del Volcan have also been planned and funded. The following map illustrates the CBD's geographic position within the MSA.
The latest addition to City Center is a 77,000 square foot office and retail building of which the City of Rio Rancho will occupy 10,000 square feet. The City Centre Office Building is expected to be complete by first quarter of 2008 or within 6-9 months of it being 60 percent leased. The remainder of the office building will be available for lease at a cost of $18 per square foot with triple net charges estimated at $6.00 per square foot.
Santa Ana Star Center
The Santa Ana Star Center's grand opening in October 2006 was marked by a puck-slapping hockey game between the New Mexico Scorpions and the Arizona Sundogs. The Star Center is a 6,500-fixed seat, multi-purpose events center with the capacity to expand to 8,500 for concerts and staged entertainment events. Total square footage for the $47 million Center is 165,000. The preliminary conceptual plan for Rio Rancho's City Center was designed around the location of this new Santa Ana Star Center and City Hall. The conceptual plan calls for the remaining 100 +/- acres of property to become a mixed-use development comprised of upscale retail, dining, entertainment, and office projects. The City is in the process of selecting a master developer to complete the development of the CBD.
Rio Rancho City Hall
The second building in the CBD is Rio Rancho’s new City Hall. It opened in August of 2007, houses the vast majority of the City’s administrative offices, and comprise 60,000 square feet of space. The final cost is expected to approach $15.8 million. Pictures and a rendering of City Hall are presented below.
UNM West
On March 4, 2008 voters approved a quarter cent gross receipts tax increase to help bring a full-service UNM campus to Rio Rancho. The tax increase is expected to raise over $20 million over its 20 year life-span and will assist the university with land improvements and infrastructure costs. After June 30, 2008, Rio Rancho's gross receipts tax rate will increase to 6.9375%. For more information, visit the campaign website.
History: In October 2006, the University of New Mexico finalized a land swap with the State Land Office, giving the university ownership of a 216-acre, $7.6 million campus site adjacent to the CBD in Rio Rancho. The university will be a full-service campus, and with a projected enrollment of 10,000-12,000 by 2015/2020, will be the third largest university in the state. Below is an initial building rendering. See below for more information on postsecondary education in the CBD.
Central New Mexico Community College (CNM) Rio Rancho Campus
On November 15, 2007, voters approved the expansion of CNM’s district to include the northern portion of Rio Rancho and the CBD. CNM is a 40-year old comprehensive community college offering workforce and career-technical training. It is second largest postsecondary institution in New Mexico; UNM is the largest. CNM has $23 million set aside for its first building and is in the final negotiations of acquiring 40 +/- acres from the State Land Office and UNM West for a branch campus. CNM has begun the process to hire an architect and is working on infrastructure plans.
UNM and CNM Update
Under a much-publicized memorandum of understanding in August 2007, UNM and CNM, the State’s two largest postsecondary institutions, agreed to pool their resources and work together to establish a higher education campus in the City of Rio Rancho. Such a partnership will combine the best of both institutions at one Rio Rancho campus, conveniently located near the CBD. The partnership will unite the services of a nationally renowned research university with the expansive educational and workforce training capabilities of the state’s most comprehensive community college.Approximately 14,000 CNM graduates are working in Rio Rancho. Below is a rendering of the Rio Rancho CNM Campus
Lionsgate Entertainment
Lionsgate Entertainment, the independent producer and distributor of motion pictures like the Academy Award-winning "Crash" (2006), announced it will construct a state-of-the-art pre- and post-production studio on 52.8 acres of land north of the CBD in Rio Rancho. The studio will consist of a minimum of 3 sound stages, production offices, a construction mill, and back-lot street settings. It is anticipated the project will generate hundreds of full-time equivalent jobs and countless part-time employment.
