The 236-acre Albuquerque site of the New Mexico State Fair is being positioned for a redevelopment project that will include 420 units of housing plus a new stadium and a public park.
SourceNM.com reports the State Fairgrounds District Board of the New Mexico legislature voted 6-1 to move ahead with the first phase of the project, which will be financed with $114 million in public funding.
Along with the board’s vote, the first renderings of the property created by the development firm Stantec, were made public. Stantec’s presentation stated the annual State Fair would remain at its longtime site for at least the next five years – no recommendation was raised on potential relocation venues for the event.
However, the project can only proceed as designed if several privately owned parcels at the southwest corner of the fairgrounds can be acquired. The state’s General Services Department is reportedly in the process of investigating if the parcel would be available for acquisition.
The sole opposition vote on the board came from Bernalillo County Commissioner Adriann Barboa, who sought more information on the impact of new housing and a stadium on the community where the fairgrounds are based.
“I am not against a stadium,” Barboa said. “I want due process. I want community and I want things that are binding. So, I would have voted yes on this in a month when we had those things.”
Photo: Artist’s rendering of the redevelopment project, courtesy of Stantec
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