Las Cruces unveils draft El Paseo/South Solano MRA plan; council to consider adoption July 7

City of Las Cruces economic-development staff and consultants on June 23 presented a draft metropolitan redevelopment area (MRA) plan for the El Paseo and South Solano corridors that recommends corridor reconstruction, targeted catalytic projects, neighborhood stewardship actions and potential policy tools to support reinvestment.

Why it matters: The MRA plan provides a statutory framework (state MRA statute) for the city to pair public investment and incentives with private redevelopment in a defined area that city staff and residents say includes dozens of vacant parcels and unoccupied buildings. The city plans to bring a pair of resolutions to council on July 7: one to adopt the plan and one to extend the MRA boundary to University Avenue.

Consultants from Site Southwest and civic-design and engineering partners described the planning process, which included a community design workshop, stakeholder focus groups, a survey with more than 2,000 responses, and a year-long technical review. The consultants proposed concentrating investment on a small number of "opportunity…