Union Pacific, New Mexico agree to land swap for hub

Written by jrood

The state of New Mexico and Union Pacific Railroad agreed on a land swap that will enable Santa Teresa, N.N., to become a major commercial and industrial hub, officials said Nov. 10, according to the El Paso, Texas, Times. Under the agreement, Union Pacific is trading a large ranch property in exchange for land near the Santa Teresa industrial park for its intermodal facility.

The parties will sign documents
to seal the deal Nov. 12 in Estancia, N.M., concluding a complex land
transaction that began more than 20 months ago.

"By acquiring these
lands, the land office can create new business and jobs, improve the tax base,
and generate revenue for public education," said Patrick Lyons, the New
Mexico commissioner of public lands in Santa Fe.

Union Pacific had
identified 2,219 acres of state trust lands for its intermodal or
train-to-truck transfer facility. The state was seeking a bid of at least $9.5
million in cash or land of equal value for the Santa Teresa site. Union Pacific
offered the 60,000-acre Lucy Ranch property, which is about 100 miles southeast
of Albuquerque and had an appraised value of $11.1 million.

State officials said the
ranch probably would be leased for grazing, which will continue to generate
revenue for a trust that the State Land Office manages.

To make the transaction
possible, the New Mexico State Land Office first had to acquire the Santa
Teresa parcel from the U.S. Bureau of Land Management, which in return received
other state trust properties in Chaves and Dona Ana counties. The site is near
the Dona Ana County/Santa Teresa airport, the border crossing, the Santa Teresa
Industrial Park and a proposed 21,000-acre planned community.

Nobody had to pay any cash
because all the transactions were based on land swaps, said Kristin Haase, New
Mexico assistant commissioner of public lands.

The State Land Office
manages nine million acres of surface estate and 13 million mineral acres held
in trust primarily for public schools and other institutions.

In June, Union Pacific
officials said the initial $150-million projected cost for the project could
double, depending on how much the railroad had to pay for the land. The
railroad’s plans include moving its core operations from El Paso — fueling,
switching and maintenance — to New Mexico, and finishing the intermodal
facility by between 2010 and 2015. When complete, the facility is expected to
employ 285 people.

Union Pacific will keep its
El Paso rail yards and its cross-border rail service between El Paso and
Juarez.

The last part of the
project will be to construct an intermodal ramp for trains to transfer cargo
directly onto trucks. When finished, the facility will be able to process up to
100,000 containers each year.

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