Main Street Las Cruces outlines capital-outlay push, branding change and business support

Jeffrey Stewart, executive with the Downtown Las Cruces Partnership, told the City Council on the organization’s annual update that the nonprofit has focused on capital projects, business technical assistance and event promotion downtown while preparing to rebrand to Main Street Las Cruces. The presentation, given during the council work session, outlined recent downtown projects and metrics and described strategies the organization says will attract state capital-outlay funding and increase earned revenue. Stewart said, “for every $1 spent on our organization, we bring back $4 in capital outlay dollars to benefit our community in the form of public infrastructure.” Why this matters: Downtown investment affects storefronts, restaurants and civic life in a district the presentation said regularly draws thousands of workers and visitors. Stewart and staff framed their actions — promotional videos, a business inventory and matching grants — as ways to keep businesses open, attract new tenants and revive uses lost when anchor businesses leave. Stewart said the partnership’s district includes the Tax Increment District, the Arts and Cultural District and parts of the historic Mesquite District. He highlighted several downtown activities and results: a seven-block farmers market with rotating vendors, nationally recognized events including the chili drop and Zombie Walk, and a promotional program that grew video viewers from roughly 1,600 to nearly 9,000 per piece over several years. He said the organization has brought close to $2.9 million in capital-outlay funding since 2019 and described the state capital-outlay process as cyclical: awards rotate among the state’s 32 Main Street programs and preference goes to projects that are shovel-ready. Stewart urged more coordination with stakeholders to prepare projects that match the downtown master plan. On business support, Stewart described technical assistance provided through the New Mexico Economic Development Department: “technical assistance means that we get specialists at the state level … to essentially give us their expertise free of charge to the businesses,” he said, citing marketing, storefront design and operations support as examples. He said the Partnership maintains a quarterly-updated business inventory that includes vacant storefronts and potential sites for placemaking. Stewart also announced a brand change: Downtown Las Cruces Partnership will operate under the name Main Street Las Cruces to align more closely with the national Main Street network and strengthen recognition and funding connections. Council questions focused on data collection and vacancy marketing. Councilor Matisse asked whether the Partnership surveys businesses that leave and those that open; Stewart said the group calls businesses that depart but does not yet have a standardized exit or entry survey. Stewart said the Partnership maintains an inventory of vacant buildings and updates it quarterly to assist marketing and TID coordination. The presentation emphasized that the nonprofit intends to increase event sponsorship to raise unrestricted revenue and reduce reliance on city contract funding. Stewart said the group has piloted paid sponsorship and engineering partnerships, and is automating reporting to show measurable results to stakeholders. Looking ahead, Stewart listed priorities including maintaining and finishing gateway monument lighting, continuing event promotion, preparing shovel-ready capital projects, and expanding the Partnership’s sponsorship base. The presentation was informational; no formal city action or vote was taken on the update.