Rio Rancho business activity picking up

Aug 11, 2008 (Albuquerque Journal - McClatchy-Tribune News Service via COMTEX) -- ZZFXQ | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating -- Aug. 11--RIO RANCHO -- The pace of new business activity is picking up in Rio Rancho.

As the new Lowe's Home I mprovement Wa rehouse nears completion at Northern and 40th Street, a Texas-based petroleum refining and marketing company has already begun work nearby on a multiuse retail complex.

Western Refining is excavating a 1-acre site on the northwest corner of the intersection where the company plans to build a filling station, carwash and 3,600-square-foot convenience store. Western is an El Paso-based refining and marketing company.

The company is also seeking other business tenants -- which could include a restaurant -- for a 1-acre parcel it owns adjacent to the gas station, said D'Nette Wood, a broker with Grubb & Ellis, who is representing Western.

The site is part of a 47-acre commercial area that will be anchored by a 117,000-squarefoot Lowe's store, which is slated to open this fall.

Wood said Western also plans to build a similar fuel and retail complex near Rio Rancho's new downtown area.

The company has signed a contract to buy a 4.5-acre site on the southwest corner of King and Unser from Phoenixbased Real World Partners, which owns the property.

The site could also include a strip-mall type retail development. Groundbreaking is projected to be in early 2009, said Keith Meyer, of Maestas and Ward in Albuquerque, who is representing Real World Partners.

City Hall and the Santa Ana Star Center are currently the only buildings in Rio Rancho's new downtown, but more activity is on the way.

Central New Mexico Community College and the University of New Mexico plan to build a campus in the area. Computer giant Hewlett-Packard has announced plans for a customer service center, and Lionsgate Entertainment may build a film studio.

To see more of the Albuquerque Journal, or to subscribe to the newspaper, go to http://www.abqjournal.com. Copyright (c) 2008, Albuquerque Journal, N.M. Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services. For reprints, email tmsreprints@permissionsgroup.com, call 800-374-7985 or 847-635-6550, send a fax to 847-635-6968, or write to The Permissions Group Inc., 1247 Milwaukee Ave., Suite 303, Glenview, IL 60025, USA.

More News:   Market Updates | Stock Alerts | All Trading News | Stock Index