NMSU, Doña Ana County and Las Cruces are considering contributions of up to $1.3 million each to help finish the Arrowhead Studios soundstage

Damien Willis, Organ Mountain News

LAS CRUCES - A $15 million state-backed bet on building a film and television production hub in Las Cruces has grown into an $18 million-plus project, with New Mexico State University, Doña Ana County and the City of Las Cruces considering contributions of up to $1.3 million each toward finishing the soundstage.

Construction is underway on Arrowhead Studios, a 36,400-square-foot film and television complex at NMSU’s Arrowhead Park. But early design work, construction estimates and industry input showed the original state funding would not be enough to complete the project.

An Arrowhead Center report presented at the Aug. 18 meeting of the NMSU Board of Regents stated that NMSU and Doña Ana County had each approved $1.3 million in supplemental funding for the interior build-out, while Las Cruces remained in “final determination” on another $1.3 million contribution.

NMSU subsequently clarified that the Board of Regents has not committed the university’s $1.3 million or authorized the agreement necessary for NMSU to accept Doña Ana County’s proposed contribution. University officials also said discussions with Las Cruces over a potential $1.3 million investment remain ongoing.

If all three contributions are made, the supplemental package would total $3.9 million.

Arrowhead’s Aug. 18 report listed total project funding at $18.9 million, with expected project costs between $18.3 million and $18.4 million. That funding figure included the proposed supplemental contributions whose final approvals remain incomplete, according to NMSU’s subsequent clarification.

The push for additional money marks a shift for a project originally launched with $15 million from the New Mexico Economic Development Department through the state’s Media Arts Collective initiative.

The NMSU Board of Regents approved the project in June 2024. The planned complex includes a commercial soundstage and production-support facilities designed to attract film and television productions to southern New Mexico while creating paid internship opportunities for NMSU and Doña Ana Community College students.

NMSU has projected that the complex could create about 200 full-time jobs. University officials have also estimated that a television series working locally could spend $12 million to $15 million in the region over six months, while a midsized film could spend about $4 million over two months. Those figures are projections, not guaranteed economic returns.

The project formally broke ground in September 2025, when NMSU still described Arrowhead Studios as a $15 million project and projected completion in December 2026.

State Sen. Jeff Steinborn, executive director of Film Las Cruces and one of the project’s leading advocates, helped secure the original state funding.

By March, however, Arrowhead officials were reporting that the original money would not be enough.

An Arrowhead report presented to Regents that month said early design and estimating work, combined with film-industry input, had shown that existing funding was insufficient to finish the facility.

The report said a conversation with Steinborn and state Rep. Nathan Small led to a suggestion that Arrowhead seek supplemental funding from key local stakeholders.

The March Arrowhead report said that effort produced pre-commitment letters from Doña Ana County and Las Cruces, along with what it described as a commitment from NMSU President Valerio Ferme. Each was asked to provide $1.3 million to complete the build.

Five months later, Arrowhead’s written report told Regents that the county and NMSU contributions had been approved and that the city’s remained under final consideration. NMSU has since clarified that the required university approvals have not been completed.

During the Aug. 18 Regents meeting, board members paused to clarify how several pools of money associated with development at Arrowhead Park fit together.

The discussion distinguished the $3.9 million supplemental package intended to finish the soundstage from a separate $8 million appropriation associated with a proposed office building at Arrowhead Park.

“The 3.9 is to finish out the soundstage, the 8 million is for a separate building,” one Regent said during the exchange, according to the meeting transcript.

Another Regent cautioned that the legislative language associated with the funding was broad enough that university officials should not “box ourselves in” on precisely how the money could be used if adjustments became necessary.

Arrowhead’s written report was more definitive, saying the proposed $1.3 million supplemental contributions would be dedicated exclusively to the soundstage’s interior build-out.

The finished complex is intended to operate as a commercial production facility rather than simply another university classroom building.

Under the project agreement, NMSU plans to lease the studio to a commercial operator responsible for maintaining and operating it, either for its own film and television productions or by renting it to other production companies.

The agreement covers a two-year development period followed by 10 years of operations. After that, NMSU can decide whether to continue using the complex as a film studio or convert it to another use.

Arrowhead currently expects the soundstage to begin generating about $81,000 a year in land rent beginning in fiscal year 2028.

The project design is now complete and construction is underway.

For a project meant to help bring Hollywood productions to southern New Mexico, closing the financing gap has become a local production of its own — with NMSU, Doña Ana County and Las Cruces still working through the approvals needed to assemble as much as $3.9 million in additional funding.

Damien Willis is founder and editor of Organ Mountain News. If you have a personal story to share or a lead we should follow up on, reach out at OrganMountainNews@gmail.com or connect with him on X at @damienwillis.