By Kevin Hendricks, The Paper.
More than 300 acres of state trust land near Cleveland Heights could go up for sale with the City of Rio Rancho’s blessing already locked in, months before residents get their say at an Aug. 5 public meeting.
The New Mexico State Land Office will gather comments on the proposed sale of 300.4274 acres north of Cleveland Heights Road NE at a meeting Wednesday, Aug. 5, from 6 to 7 p.m. at Rio Rancho City Hall. Comments will be accepted for two weeks afterward, with no set timeline for when the Land Commissioner will decide whether to proceed, said Joey Keefe, the SLO’s assistant commissioner of communications. Comments collected “will be taken into account when the Commissioner makes the final decision,” Keefe said.
The city isn’t starting from scratch. Rio Rancho’s Planning and Zoning Board approved rezoning and a Master Plan amendment for the tracts in December 2025, with the revised plat recorded in January, Keefe said. City officials are aware of the project, support it, and have already run their own infrastructure needs analysis, he said.
Current lessee Paseo Gateway LLC has extended infrastructure to the property line already — sewer sits across the street, ready for extension once a buyer submits development plans. Electricity, water and gas lines run along the roadway but won’t extend onto the tracts until a buyer’s development plan is approved. Whoever buys the land will fund both off-site and on-tract infrastructure, though the lessee and city have already secured engineering estimates for those costs, Keefe said.
If the SLO decides to proceed after the comment period, state law requires a public auction advertised for at least 10 weeks, with a minimum bid set by independent appraisal.
Weigh in on the Cleveland Heights land sale
- When: Wednesday, Aug. 5, 6-7 p.m.
- Where: Rio Rancho City Hall, Governing Body Overflow Room, 3200 Civic Center Cir. NE
- Zoom: us02web.zoom.us/j/88386679820?pwd=Atgo3Ax6E36GaGqSiOUhXFSH9863Wu.1 Meeting ID 883 8667 9820, Passcode 437348
- Phone: 1-669-900-9128
- Info: nmstatelands.org