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Rocket Racing League® HEADQUARTERS UNDERWAY
Odd to think of rockets and real estate going together, but they do.
Even though Rocket Racing League® events will take place in the sky, land is still an essential part of the equation; land for hangars to house the planes and teams, land for the high-tech new headquarters where the many people will work to make the RRL™ a reality, land for the high-tech industries and businesses that will grow up around the RRL.
It’s a big project, and not one you can achieve alone. You’ve got to have willing partners to make it work, people and organizations that believe in what you’re doing.
The Las Cruces City Council, together with Mayor Bill Mattiace, has approved an economic development project that includes an 11.5 acre parcel at the West Mesa Industrial Park to house the Rocket Racing League®
"Gentlemen, start your engines," Mattiace deadpanned.
The council’s approval lays the foundation for a fully integrated headquarters facility project with airport operations enabling RRL to further a vision of an entire industrial park complex for all RRL related functions.
"This is a very good program for a lot of reasons," said Steve Vierck, executive director of the Mesilla Valley Economic Development Alliance. "Sure there is some risk, but there is an opportunity for substantial economic return."
Separate from the development plan, the council also approved long term leases for six, 100,000-square-foot parcels at Las Cruces International Airport. This land will be used by the Rocket Racing League® to build hangars for its planes and teams with approval to expand the adjacent taxiway. Additional hangars will be added to the project.
"We expect to generate many high wage jobs with our headquarters development project," said Tim Gormley, Rocket Racing League® chief operating officer. “We’re also making every effort to hire locally if possible for these positions. We’re working with New Mexico State University and have hired a number of talented student interns in everything from its engineering program to communications and graphic artists..”
Beyond the City of Las Cruces, the State of New Mexico through the New Mexico Economic Development Department has committed to set aside state capital outlay funds to support the project including utility and road improvements.
Katie Roberts, spokeswoman for the state Economic Development Department, said state officials are committed to the project, not only because it will help Rocket Racing League®, but the city's economic growth in general.
"This is confirmation from the community and the elected officials to facilitate the right industry to come to Las Cruces," Roberts said. "This will not only help Rocket Racing League®, but also Las Cruces and New Mexico."
In addition to the development taking place at the Las Cruces airport, the Rocket Racing League® plans to build its own 10,000 square-foot research and development center at New Mexico State University’s Arrowhead Park. While the RRL’s main headquarters will be located near the Las Cruces International Airport, much of the League’s research activities will be handled at the Arrowhead facility.
Located at the southern end of campus, Arrowhead Park offers direct access to scientists and infrastructure, including high-tech engineering facilities, chemical and natural resource labs, and computer and information services.
“The university has an unprecedented opportunity to turn its research park into the state’s premiere R&D hub for aerospace industries,” said Granger Whitelaw, the Racing League’s chief executive officer. “NMSU officials share our vision of the park as a major cornerstone for other businesses to build up around us in collaboration with what we do. We envision a ‘Microsoft effect,’ a steady, critical mass build up.”
The park includes 257 acres of available land with substantial water rights. The area is sandwiched between Interstate 25 on the east and Interstate 10 on the west, offering rapid highway access to the international airport in El Paso and White Sands Missile Range.
”Given the park’s advantages, Arrowhead now has a waiting list of high-tech startups that want to get in, including some companies connected to the X-Prize Cup competition,’ says park director Maureen Camunez.
As southern New Mexico’s only existing business incubator, NMSU’s research park already hosts 15 high-tech startup businesses that are developing a variety of new technologies, ranging from an over-the-counter genetic testing kit to a portable device that detects arsenic in drinking water.
With the business buzz generated by the RRL and the Southwest Regional Spaceport recently approved by the New Mexico Legislature, a vision is emerging that places the park at the epicenter of space-related R&D, said Kevin Boberg, director of NMSU’s Arrowhead Center Inc and associate dean of the College of Business Administration and Economics.
“We need to train pilots, mechanics, engineers and others,” says Boberg. “We see Arrowhead becoming a corporate-led learning laboratory where new knowledge and education is beamed out across the globe.”
http://www.las-cruces.org/
http://www.edd.state.nm.us/
http://www.nmsu.edu/
http://arrowheadcenter.nmsu.edu/researchpark/
http://www.las-cruces.org/facilities/airport/
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