August 21, 2008
West Side Journal
CNM Campus Land Acquired In Rio Rancho
By Rosalie Rayburn, Journal Staff WriterState, city and education officials gathered Wednesday to mark the official transfer of state-owned land to Central New Mexico Community College for a campus in Rio Rancho’s new downtown area.
Commissioner of Public Lands Patrick Lyons, Rio Rancho Mayor Thomas Swisstack, CNM president Katharine Winograd and Marc Nigliazzo, the University of New Mexico’s vice president for Rio Rancho operations, signed documents whereby CNM took over ownership of the 40-acre site.
The signing was held at CNM’s Student Services Building in Albuquerque.
“This finalizes the deal and it now allows for CNM to begin to posture itself to begin construction on the first building,” Swisstack said in a phone interview after the event.
CNM has said it plans to begin construction in January of the first 60,000-square-foot building and open for classes in 2010. The campus is located northeast of City Hall.
Under agreements made last year, CNM agreed to purchase 25 acres from the State Land Office and an adjacent 15-acre parcel from the University of New Mexico. The 15 acres was part of a 221-acre parcel UNM acquired from the State Land Office for a campus it plans to build in Rio Rancho.
UNM initially plans to share space on the CNM campus site.
UNM’s Board of Regents negotiated the agreement to sell the land to CNM in return for the use of space to house lower-level classes, according to a news release from the State Land Office, which organized the signing event.
The release said CNM paid full market value — $2.18 million — for the Land Office parcel and $1 million for the UNM land. The Land Office will receive 25 percent of the UNM proceeds.
The Land Office manages land throughout New Mexico held in trust for public education. Proceeds from the sale of trust lands are paid into the Land Grant Permanent Fund, which supports public schools and universities, the release said.