City Offers Its Unused Properties to Public

Mayor Keller today launched the Available City Properties program, making it easier to search for City-owned land and put it to use.

The program compiles available City properties in a simple online list, currently numbering almost 200, offering them for a wide range of potential uses. Depending on location and zoning, the parcels could become new homes, businesses, gardens, parks, event venues, or something entirely new.

“We have unused land all around the city, while people here have unrealized ideas,” said Mayor Keller. “Now we’re connecting those dots instead of letting these places sit empty. This is taxpayer land, and it’s time we democratize it and give you the freedom to use it.”

The program is part of Mayor Keller’s broader third-term abundance agenda – a push to open more opportunities for people to build, invest, and improve their city while reducing the bureaucratic hurdles that too often get in the way of good ideas.

The new Available City Properties page lists properties available for different kinds of uses, including housing, commercial development, agriculture, and recreation. An interactive map also makes it easier to see opportunities throughout Albuquerque. Fourteen locations are already under contract.

Through its Metropolitan Redevelopment Agency (MRA), Albuquerque has been working to simplify processes for smaller developers and put lots that no longer serve a municipal purpose toward productive new uses.

“We’re changing the way we think about City property,” said MRA Director Terry Brunner. “We want it to be easier for people to understand what’s available and how to get started.”

At the launch, The Semilla Project shared its experience helping transform City land at the Loma Linda Community Center into a neighborhood garden. Semilla partners with communities through land-based education and has helped steward the Loma Linda garden as a space for growing food, learning, and connecting residents.

“When people have access to a piece of land, it can become a place to build something positive together,” said Eli Cuna, executive director of The Semilla Project. “We’ve seen that potential at Loma Linda, and now communities across Albuquerque have the chance to imagine what they need and then actually have a way to create it.”

Explore available properties, view the interactive map, and learn how to submit an idea at the Available City Properties page.

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