The first of an anticipated four-phase development framework for the Innovate ABQ site kicked off last week with a ceremonial groundbreaking for the Lobo Rainforest Building at the seven-acre site on the corner of Broadway Boulevard and Central Avenue. The ceremony brought together a cross-section of public and private sector leaders who celebrated the Innovate ABQ project, but also recognized the partnerships that have made creating a robust innovation district in Albuquerque an achievable and now dawning reality.

The Lobo Rainforest Building, which has an expected completion date of August 2017, will be an almost 160,000 square-foot, six-story mixed use space. The first floor will house education, business and community spaces including STC.UNM and its incubator Cecchi VentureLab, the UNM innovationAcademy, Innovate New Mexico, an Air Force research lab, a Nusenda Credit Union branch office and a cafe. The second through sixth floors will be dedicated to student housing and a small fitness center.

Funding for the site came from both the public and private sector, which demonstrated the urgency and the opportunity for change in Albuquerque. Mayor Berry, alongside other speakers, commented about the unprecedented collaboration that has brought this vision to life, saying, “Public-private partnerships are the way of the future.” One of the key private partners, Nusenda Credit Union, made a three million dollar investment in the site. President Terry Laudick commented, “Nusenda is trying to take a lead position for the private sector continuing to move forward in this collaboration to bring economic viability to New Mexico … We have finally come to the point here where we will begin to see the fruition of our years of very hard work. We are quite pleased and excited for this catalyzing event.”

And while the event is the first of many future celebrations as this project comes into being, it was also a reminder to keep our eyes on the prize; that prize being dramatic improvement in the lives of low income people in our city and state. Alvin Warren who was present representing the W.K. Kellogg Foundation poignantly said, “It is going to take all the partners to focus and ensure that not just Innovate ABQ but all the efforts in Albuquerque focused on economic development benefit everybody … because in the end, if we want to keep the best and brightest of New Mexico here then we have to make sure that everything is accessible to all the best and brightest.”