Development at Kirtland

Plan calls for mixed-use project on base

Plans for a new 70 acres-plus mixed use development on Kirtland Air Force Base are moving forward and are expected to be finalized in early 2019, according to developers.

The project, named Max Q at Kirtland, is designed to create over 900,000 square feet of office space on underutilized base property between Carlisle Boulevard and Truman Street in the Gibson corridor.

The United States Air Force awarded Thunderbird Kirtland Development LLC a development agreement for the project last year.

“We did this to take advantage of what we think is an unde- utilized economic engine for the state of New Mexico,” said TDK member and Yearout CEO Kevin Yearout.

The Air Force Research Lab reported a $659 million economic impact on the state in fiscal year 2016.

Yearout said the environmental study should be done by the end of the first quarter of 2019, when construction should begin.

“We are already designing the first couple of buildings that should be going in there,” he said.

The project, he said, is envisioned to look like the Sandia Science Tech Park meets ABQ Uptown.

“We want this to be a very pedestrian walk-able space... something that will attract other companies to want to locate here, and we also want to attract companies that are already working at the Air Force Base,” Yearout said.

The development is made possible through a Department of Defense program called Enhanced Use Leasing, which allows the military to lease underutilized land on military bases to the private sector for redevelopment, he said.

“What sets this apart from ACE (Aviation Center of Excellence) is the customer the site is being developed for, which is the Air Force Base,” he said. “With ACE, they are more about aeronautics and access to a runway, which we will not have.”

Yearout said the development is particularly suited to companies that have contracts with the labs.

“We will be the only place in the country where a client can be next to their customer and do work in their labs,” Yearout said.

COURTESY THUNDERBIRD KIRTLAND DEVELOPMENT An architect’s rendering shows how Thunderbird Kirtland Development’s Max Q development on Kirtland Air Force Base might look upon completion.