A project that will see the construction of both a teeming entertainment district as well as a technology park on the main Albuquerque campus of the University of New Mexico is taking an important step forward.
The school’s board of regents last month gave their approval to a master development agreement that will see construction of the entertainment district and park on the university’s south campus.
Now members of the Albuquerque City Council have voted in favor of authorizing the creation of a tax-increment development district that will be used to fund some of the project.
Such districts are commonly created for gross receipts and property tax revenues purposes that are, in turn, applied to a project’s infrastructure construction expenses.
The entertainment district/technology park project has been in the talking and planning stage for several years. As proposed, the entertainment district, to be built near the intersection of University Boulevard and Avenido Cesar Chavez, will see the construction of retail space, as well as restaurants and bars.
The 90-acre site will also see the building of a science and technology research center.
Spearheaded by the UNM’s Lobo Development Corporation, the entertainment district has been described as an “active, retail-centric community experience.”
By Garry Boulard
