Laguna protests award of Downs lease

ALBUQUERQUE (KRQE) - A company that lost a bid for a 25-year lease to operate a racetrack and casino at the Expo New Mexico fairgrounds has filed a protest to the selection of another bid.

The Albuquerque Journal reports that Laguna Development Corporation said officials from the Downs at Albuquerque likely had access to Laguna's confidential bid for the lease.

The Downs has leased a large segment of the state fairgrounds since 1985. The chance to operate the track was opening up as the lease for the Downs was set to expire.

A three-member committee appointed by Gov. Susana Martinez recommended the Downs' bid. Expo then negotiated a contract with the Downs that includes construction of a new multimillion-dollar casino.

The State Fair Commission approved the lease on a 4-3 vote, and the state Board of Finance approved it on Dec. 20.

Critics have said the process was rushed .

Laguna, the only entity other than the Downs to submit a bid, also claims that its proposal was a better deal for Expo and that the Downs should have been disqualified for failing to prove its financial viability.

In support of that, Laguna Development questions how Downs' officials arrived at a benchmark of $43.8 million in annual slot revenues to trigger a revenue-sharing provision of the lease - the identical benchmark Laguna Development offered in its supposedly confidential best and final offer.

Laguna Development said it can't prove some of its claims because Expo officials have refused to make needed documents available, despite repeated attempts to obtain them under the state's Inspection of Public Records Act.

Expo New Mexico and the Downs at Albuquerque didn't immediately respond to a call Friday morning by The Associated Press for comment.

Laguna Development is asking that all actions related to the lease be suspended until its protest is fully resolved, and that the State Fair rescind the award of the lease to the Downs and give it to Laguna Development.