The city has a lease agreement with Mesa Media, but there’s still one more hurdle before it’s a done deal.

The city council needs to approve the lease agreement between the City of Albuquerque and Mesa Media. But that agreement has already been finalized, and city leaders are hopeful and excited.

“This is a key priority to grow the film and television industry and to support it,” said Manny Manriquez, a deputy director for the city’s Aviation Department.

Manriquez says the site is by a local airport.

“The Aviation Department owns property in the vicinity of Double Eagle II Airport on the West Side. And so because we own that property, Mesa Media, the company that’s going to be building the film studios, the Mesa film studios, has entered into negotiations with us to establish a lease agreement,” said Manriquez.

Manriquez says the next step is for the city council to approve the lease.

“We completed the lease negotiations with Mesa Media earlier this year. So now what we’re doing is we’re entering into the city council process. So that city council can examine the lease terms, and determine whether or not they authorize the City of Albuquerque to enter into a lease agreement with Mesa Media,” Manriquez said.

The city council will vote on the lease during Wednesday’s meeting. But after that, Manriquez says there’s more work to be done.

“If they authorize it, we sign the agreement, and then we’ve got a lot more work we need to do on getting the site plan approved through the EPC, which is a planning commission that we work with to ensure that we are hitting all the necessary requirements to essentially roll out this project and have it take shape,” Manriquez said.

The lease has three phases.

The first phase is for 60 acres, once it’s completed the city will collect $316,000 for the first full lease payment and the total will increase by 2% every year. The second and third phases are for 40 and 30 acres respectively.

Phase one could break ground by late summer or early fall.