Economic development district gets grant to buy Santa Fe headquarters

Apr. 15—The North Central New Mexico Economic Development District will soon take ownership of an office building it started renting in December, thanks to a $1.3 million federal grant.

The money from the federal Economic Development Administration, announced last week, will combine with more than $300,000 in state capital outlay the district received in 2023 for the purchase and upgrades to the 6,000-square-foot property at 644 Don Gaspar Ave., Executive Director Monica Abeita told The New Mexican. She said the district expects to complete the purchase of the building by May.

"We love it here, we're very happy here and we got to spend our first legislative session right next to the Capitol," she said. "For our board members and our member communities, this is a place where they can be during the legislative session or when they're here in Santa Fe."

The district, which covers Santa Fe, Rio Arriba, Taos, Colfax, Mora, San Miguel, Los Alamos and Sandoval counties, previously had its offices at the Santa Fe Business Incubator and, before that, the College of Santa Fe.