City property sits unused

RIO RANCHO, N.M. (KRQE) - A prime piece of real estate bought for a prime price but now, six years and hundreds of thousands of dollars later, it’s an albatross around the city of Rio Rancho’s neck.

“The project sits there just a frame of a building and it just sits there,” Rio Rancho Mayor Tom Swisstack said.

Mayor Swisstack is referring to about six acres of land on Northern Boulevard and Ontario Place, which is just west of Highway 528.

“There isn’t anything particularly going on at that location,” said Swisstack.

City leaders bought the property for $643,000 in 2006, it came with a half-built metal shell of a building already on it.

Swisstack told KRQE News 13 there were plans and some funding in place to re-purpose that shell of a building into a $4 million community center that was until the economy tanked.

“I truly believe that if the economy would have continued on the path that it was in the city of Rio Rancho they would have had that project built but it didn’t,” The Mayor said.

Now six years later, the new leadership at city hall has inherited a headache of sorts, trying to figure out what if anything can be done to salvage the pricey purchase.

Over the years the lack of attention paid to the property by the city has attracted some unwanted attention.

“We have received calls occasionally of people being on the property, at one time there was a fence that surrounded the property, that was stolen several years ago,” said Rio Rancho Police Spokesman Sergeant Nicholas Onken.

On Tuesday RRPD received one of those occasional calls after two men were caught stealing scrap metal in the middle of the day.

“They only managed to make off with less than $250 worth of property,” Onken said.

Mayor Swisstack told KRQE News 13 the property is still on city hall’s radar but he admits it is not a priority especially since money is still tight.

“Some of the priorities are going to be public safety, are going to be a new senior center, are going to be some of the roads and infrastructure that are necessary,” he said.

Swisstack said if the city isn’t able to find a use for the land it might be possible for them to sell the property and use that money for something else.