On March 17, the Albuquerque City Council rejected Land Use Hearing Officer Stephen Chavez’s recommendation to reverse the approval of the Mesa Film Studio site plan in its March 17 meeting.
Chavez submitted a recommendation March 2 to City Council to reverse the Environmental Planning Commission’s December 19 decision to approve the Mesa Film Studio site plan — which is a 60-acre film studio near Double Eagle II Airport.
The City Council voted 8-1 to reject Chavez’s recommendation, with Councilor JoaquÃn Baca casting the only dissenting vote.
According to city officials, with the City Council rejection, the Council will hold a full hearing on the Mesa Film Studio site plan during its April 7 meeting.
Council has approved $6.75 million in Local Economic Development Act (LEDA) funds for the construction of the studio and approved the studio’s lease for the land.
The Chamber has supported this project by providing public input during the city’s Environmental Planning Commission on Dec. 19, as well as an op-ed in the Albuquerque Journal on Dec. 2.
Mesa Film Studio is scheduled to have:
• Six stages, each approximately 20,000 square feet.
• Two flex buildings: one at 12,000 square feet and the other 24,000 square feet.
• A mill building to build and store sets and props at 80,000 square feet.
• A permanent three-wall blue/green screen on the back lot.
• 50,000 square feet of office space.
This level of hardscape investment means jobs — 320 construction jobs, 25 full-time jobs with annual salaries and benefits of $1.4 million, and the hundreds of jobs that come with the projects that choose Albuquerque as their base of operations.
To read the full Op-ed, click here.