The New York-based owner of the National Broadcasting Company has announced plans to build its own studios in Albuquerque.
Media conglomerate NBCUniversal says it wants to transform an existing empty warehouse located at 1601 Commercial Street into a modern production facility.
The announcement means that NBCUniversal will spend something like $500 million in the next decade in New Mexico putting together scripted productions for both broadcast and cable channels.
In a statement, New Mexico Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham lauded the company’s Albuquerque announcement, adding that “The media industry is increasingly vital to our state’s workforce, providing stable long-term employment for talented individuals of every age, from all parts of the state.”
NBCUniversal says it expects to spend up to $4 million in the next several months converting the warehouse in question into a space that will include two studios and an office. As planned, the structure will also house grip, lighting, and transportation operations for the company.
To help close the NBCUniversal deal, the State of New Mexico offered the company $7 million through Local Economic Development Act funding, with the City of Albuquerque contributing $3 million, also in local economic development funds.
The one-story building that NBCUniversal will be moving into measures just over 83,000 square feet and was built in the mid-1970s. At one time, the structure served as a facility for the Premiere Distributing Company, the wholesale distributor of Anheuser-Busch products.
NBCUniversal’s cable channels include CNBC, USA, and Bravo. Last year that division alone saw revenue in excess of $2.9 billion. Overall, the company has enjoyed annual revenues of around $33 billion annually.
By Garry Boulard
