LANL signs two more leases in Santa Fe

By T.S. Last/Journal North Editor
Monday, March 8, 2021

Copyright © 2021 Albuquerque Journal

SANTA FE – Less than a month after Los Alamos National Laboratory announced it would open an office in downtown Santa Fe to accommodate 75 workers, the lab said Monday that it is signing leases with two neighboring properties in another part of town to house 500 more employees.

The two buildings – Ark Plaza and Pollon Plaza – stand side by side on a hill near St. Michael’s Drive and Pacheco Street, next to a Smith’s grocery store. Both are two-story buildings of more than 39,000 square feet. A news release says the buildings will allow the lab to provide more room for offices, meeting rooms and co-work space.

The buildings were previously leased by state government and have been unoccupied for about two years.

The leases are for 10 years. The lab says no hazardous work will take place in the buildings being leased. Instead, human resources, procurement, finance and information technology administrative offices will be located at the sites.

The buildings will house current lab employees, but the lab says it plans to hire 1,200 new employees during the current fiscal year.

While LANL conducts scientific research in a wide range of industries, it is best known for developing the atomic bomb, and its work continues to focus on expanding the U.S. nuclear stockpile.

Last month, LANL said it would be moving into a 28,000-square-foot building on Guadalupe Street in downtown Santa Fe that was home to the tech firm Descartes Labs. Employees will move into that building when COVID-19 restrictions are lifted, the news release says, while the buildings on Pacheco Street won’t open until this fall.

“This is the largest job relocation initiative in Santa Fe’s history,” LANL Director Thom Mason said in a statement. He added that the lab welcomes the opportunity to make a positive economic impact on Santa Fe and be a good employer.

“Having two major office buildings fully occupied promises to strengthen the Santa Fe economy and anchor the St. Michael’s commercial corridor,” said Bridget Dixson, president and CEO of the Santa Fe Chamber of Commerce. “The Chamber is pleased to welcome the laboratory to the business community.”

But not everyone is happy about LANL moving into Santa Fe.

Greg Mello, director of the Los Alamos Study Group, said in a statement that LANL’s move into Santa Fe is a precursor for more expansion as the lab works to increase production of plutonium pits, the triggering device in nuclear warheads.

“These leases are the first time since World War II that Santa Fe was home to a large prime contractor for nuclear weapons,” he said. “I think we can expect one or more additional leases in Santa Fe, Rio Arriba or Sandoval counties, unless the Biden administration wises up. This is a Trump program, designed to deliver plutonium pits on an emergency, ‘surge’ basis.”