Transportation key to new industrial park
Developer banking on rail, road and air
The long-term success of an industrial park south of Albuquerque International Sunport will be driven by planes, trains and automobiles.
Strategically located where road, rail and air meet is the hallmark of the newly named, 330-acre Sunport South Business Park, which is being marketed to regional firms and national companies as future users, according to representatives of the developer.
Phoenix-based owner/developer Horne-Stewart LLC has hired Colliers International New Mexico to drum up interest in the park, where lot sizes range from 10 to 69 acres, said Bill Robertson, senior vice president and principal with Colliers, who is seeing a lot of would-be buyer interest for the tracts of land on offer.
Solomon Sampson, a vice president with Horne-Stewart, said companies involved in manufacturing, fabrication, warehousing and distribution are among the kinds of operators he expects will do business in the park, which will be sold in phases to industrial users.
“One tenant will get the ball rolling,” Robertson said of the business park, which has a rail spur running through it, direct access to the airport via University Boulevard and is located off Interstate 25 with two access points: Rio Bravo and Bobby Foster Road.
“What sets this project apart is the rail component,” the second most-common mode of freight transport in the U.S., said Robertson. “There really isn’t a rail park in Albuquerque. We’re traipsing on new ground.” Access to the Sunport is ideal for manufacturers who need to ship “high-value” goods like high-tech products or medical equipment by air, said Robertson. He added that the park also is foreign trade zone eligible.
Sampson said the company is spending “a couple of million dollars” on infrastructure improvements, which includes soil compacting, grading and water pumping. The business park has 408-acre feet of ground water rights, which would be ideal for users needing water for cooling equipment, process uses, cleaning and steam generation, said Sampson. Local contractors will be able to bid for future work, such as building a bridge over an arroyo, which needs to be cleared, and doing maintenance on the railway spur, which runs east and west through the northern portion of the business park and links up with Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railway.
The 550-acre park also is equipped with natural gas lines, electricity, water and sewer lines. About 200 acres will be devoted to bike trails and walking paths.
A new industrial park served by rail also is proposed for a site west of Los Lunas by project developer Rio Real Estate Investment Opportunities. The Central New Mexico Rail Park is designed for large land users, such as third-party logistics operations, as well as sites for manufacturing, warehouse and distribution opportunities, said Lawrence Rael, a Rio Real Estate partner. Bernalillo County provided a $400,00 grant to help fund construction of a rail spur.
In 2015, about $1.5 billion worth of new or expanded facilities opened along BNSF lines, up from $1.2 billion in 2014, according to Progressive Railroading magazine.