Land for Schools
Commissioner Lyons’ “Land for Schools” initiative makes state trust lands available to public school districts and universities for new school construction.
Since 2003, 658 acres valued at $18.4 million have been transferred through land exchange or sale to Albuquerque Public Schools, Rio Rancho Public Schools, Las Cruces Public Schools, Gallup-McKinley, the New Mexico School for the Blind and Visually Impaired, the University of New Mexico, and Central New Mexico Community College.
Dollars generated through these land sales will continue to benefit public education, as the proceeds from the sale of trust lands are paid into the Land Grant Permanent Fund, invested by the State Investment Office, and distributed to the trust beneficiaries.
Albuquerque Public Schools
Volcano Vista High School on Albuquerque's West Side is the result of a "Land for Schools" project.
Volcano Vista High School on Albuquerque's West Side is the result of a "Land for Schools" project. In an effort to ease overcrowding in West Side schools, Commissioner Lyons offered Albuquerque Public Schools 70 acres of state trust lands along Universe Boulevard, west of the Petroglyph National Monument and south of the Ventana Ranch subdivision, in exchange for 11 acres of APS-owned commercial property on South Eubank Boulevard adjacent to the Sandia Science and Technology Park.
The trust lands were appraised at $3.316 million and the APS-owned property valued at $2.779 million. Land exchanges must be of equal value; therefore in addition to the land, APS made a cash payment of $536,266 to the State Land Office.
The following year, APS secured 63 acres of trust lands adjacent to the new Volcano Vista High School for new elementary and middle schools. The 63 acres appraised for $35,000 per acres and the district purchased the land for $2.216 million.
Rio Rancho
V. Sue Cleveland High School in Rio Rancho.
V. Sue Cleveland High School in Rio Rancho. In January 2006, Commissioner Lyons and Rio Rancho Public Schools Superintendent Dr. Sue Cleveland signed an agreement transferring ownership of 140 acres of state trust lands to the district for a second high school.
During the 2005 Legislative Session, lawmakers appropriated $2.5 million in capital outlay funding to Rio Rancho Public Schools to acquire the land.
According to the agreement, Rio Rancho Public Schools paid the Land Office $2.52 million for the property, appraised at $18,000 an acre.
Gallup-McKinley
Chief Manuelito Middle School in Gallup.
Chief Manuelito Middle School in Gallup. According to the New Mexico Public School Facilities Authority, existing Gallup middle schools and the junior high rank among the top 100 schools for deteriorating structures and lacking of suitable classrooms.
Responding to the call for a new middle school, Commissioner Lyons facilitated the first Land for School project and finalized a land exchange that made available 65 acres of land to the school district for new school construction.
Today, the Chief Manuelito Middle School accommodates 800 students.
Las Cruces
Onate High School in Las Cruces.
Onate High School in Las Cruces. Las Cruces is one of the fastest-growing school districts in New Mexico. In 2007, the commissioner finalized an agreement with the Las Cruces Public Schools District to transfer 30 acres of trust lands east of Onate High School for Title IX soccer fields.
School for the Blind and Visually Impaired
The New Mexico School for the Blind and Visually Impaired, a trust beneficiary, received three acres of trust lands on which to build its state-of-the-art Early Childhood Program and Outreach Program facility.
The New Mexico School for the Blind and Visually Impaired, a trust beneficiary, received three acres of trust lands on which to build its state-of-the-art Early Childhood Program and Outreach Program facility. In January 2009, the New Mexico School for the Blind and Visually Impaired opened the doors of a 38,000 square foot state-of-the-art Early Childhood Program and Outreach Program located on three acres of state trust lands near the Sandia Science and Technology Park.
The school has served blind and visually impaired students and their families since 1903, and in 2006 Commissioner Lyons committed trust lands for a new pre-K and kindergarten in Albuquerque.
The three acres acquired by the school is a portion of 11 acres the Land Office picked up a year earlier through a land exchange with Albuquerque Public Schools, which had identified 70 acres of state-owned land on Albuquerque’s West Side as the site of Volcano Vista High School and wanted to make a trade.
The NMSBVI paid $820,000 for the three acres it acquired, and since land exchanges must be of equal or greater value, it transferred ownership of a 10,333 square foot commercial building in Albuquerque’s Northeast Heights to the Land Office.
University of New Mexico
The UNM West campus in Rio Rancho.
The UNM West campus in Rio Rancho. In 2010, New Mexico’s largest university opened phase one of its 221-acre Rio Rancho campus – UNM West.
The university acquired the tract of land, located northeast of Rio Rancho City Hall, in 2006 by way of a land exchange. From UNM, the Land Office picked up 670 acres southeast of Placitas, and 109 acres in the far northern section of Mesa del Sol.
The 42,000 square foot, two-story building, will accommodate classrooms, student support services, a bookstore, and food service.
The UNM Medical Group will be housed in the facility during construction of the UNM Sandoval Regional Medical Center, a 75-bed teaching hospital on the UNM West campus.
Central New Mexico Community College
The site of CNM's 62,000 square foot facility that is expected to accommodate nursing simulation, biology, chemistry, and computer labs, as well as classrooms and student services.
The site of CNM's 62,000 square foot facility that is expected to accommodate nursing simulation, biology, chemistry, and computer labs, as well as classrooms and student services. Central New Mexico Community College broke ground on its 40-acre Rio Rancho campus in February 2009, although construction has yet to commence.
A year earlier, Commissioner Lyons sold CNM 25 acres of state-owned lands located northeast of Rio Rancho City Hall to begin construction on the first of six buildings expected to complete the campus.
The commissioner’s relationship with CNM began in 2006 when the college identified trust lands in Rio Rancho as the site of its West Side campus. In the meantime, the parcel the University of New Mexico had acquired from the Land Office was located partially within the CNM site, therefore the UNM Board of Regents negotiated an agreement to sell CNM 15 acres.
The college paid full market value, or $2.178 million, for the Land Office’s 25 acres, and $1 million for the UNM land. The Land Office received 25 percent of UNM’s proceeds due to a clause in the original sale that provides for resale proceeds.