Building Pads, Utilities and Slabs in Arrowhead Park

Build-to-suit buildings need a site that is ready the day the tenant signs, and that is what we aim to deliver at Arrowhead Park. The park lists direct visual exposure to Interstates 10 and 25, build-to-suit capability with multiple development partners, and land and space available, all inside the Dona Ana County Free Trade Zone Area. For a developer or user considering a technology, media or light industrial building, the underlying question is how fast the pad, the utilities and the pavement can be ready.

Arrowhead Research Park covers 224 acres at the southern end of the NMSU Las Cruces campus between the two interstates. A $1.5 million U.S. Economic Development Administration grant reported in 2010 funded infrastructure there, including widening Arrowhead Drive from two lanes to four, finishing the wastewater system and adding street lighting. Streets, wastewater and lighting were part of that investment, so the work a tenant needs is often the pad, the building, parking and the connections to existing lines.

We build those pieces: grading and building pad preparation, utility tie-ins, foundations, slabs and parking. Managing them as one scope lets us schedule trades on the owner's date instead of waiting on a chain of subs, and it keeps the owner's builder and the park's partners talking to one contractor.

Preparing a building pad means more than scraping and compacting. We strip organic material, scarify and recompact the top layer, bring in engineered fill where the geotechnical report calls for it, and proof-roll the surface to find soft areas before the footings are dug. The report's recommended moisture and density values are used as targets and verified by tests.

Utility tie-ins are scheduled with the park's infrastructure owners. We expose and verify existing stubs before the building is laid out, so the slab and the lines meet at the right elevation. Parking and drives follow: concrete or asphalt over compacted base, with curb and gutter, accessible stalls and drainage inlets set to the civil plan. Every pour gets a mix design that fits the season, and we report slump, air and cylinder results to the owner's inspector in the format they ask for, so the closeout binder is built as we go and not at the end.

The park's listed projects include a Dona Ana Community College Creative Media Technology Building, a Film Street construction project and a planned Film and TV Soundstage Complex, with design-build proposals for the soundstage complex due April 18, 2025. Those buildings have concrete needs that are different from a typical warehouse. A soundstage needs a very flat, thick slab, often isolated from the surrounding structure so footsteps and equipment do not bleed into the floor, and walls and foundations that reduce outside noise.

Training and media buildings add their own details: trench drains and utility sleeves cast into the floor, recesses for equipment, and edge conditions that suit a roll-up door. Flex and light industrial buildings in the park share many of the same slab and apron needs, and we adapt the design for either use.

Design-build procurement, like the proposal process the park lists for its soundstage complex, rewards contractors who give early, honest pricing. We offer preconstruction help with slab thickness options, phasing, site logistics and cost ranges before drawings are final. When the design is still moving, a rough budget with a list of the assumptions behind it is more useful than a precise number nobody can trust.

During construction we keep a simple rhythm: a weekly look-ahead, a clean site, a daily log and quick responses to field questions. For owners working with multiple development partners, that predictability helps everyone coordinate, and it keeps the building ready for the tenant fit-out on the date promised.

A site with visual exposure to two interstates means the work is seen. We keep the site tidy, control dust and make sure signs, fencing and haul routes are neat. The park's position between the interstates also affects deliveries, and we plan truck routes to avoid campus walkways and parking where possible.

Drainage in this area has to be handled carefully, because desert storms produce a lot of runoff in a short time. We build pads that drain away from foundations, connect to the park's storm system where available, and shape any detention areas to the engineer's grades. Traffic around the NMSU campus and the Mesilla Valley Mall area shapes how we route trucks into and out of the park.

Because the park is connected to NMSU, a project may involve university review as well as the building code and local approvals. Commercial buildings follow the 2021 New Mexico Commercial Building Code (14.7.2 NMAC), issued under the Construction Industries Division, which adopts the 2021 International Building Code as amended and took effect July 14, 2023. We ask early which agency reviews each part of the work.

Industrial users who plan to take advantage of the free trade zone area should also confirm with their advisors how the designation affects operations. That does not change how we place concrete, but it can influence the layout of loading areas and secure storage, so we raise those questions with the owner during design. We also coordinate with commercial developers and tenants on the order in which permits and inspections occur.

Send us your parcel, the building type and your target date. We will review the site, check the utilities and return a pricing outline you can use in your design-build proposal.

Is Arrowhead Park ready for building, or does it need infrastructure?

Public records describe infrastructure investments in the park, including street widening, wastewater and street lighting, so many parcels are close to services. Every parcel is different, though, so we verify the location of stubs, the capacity of lines and the grade before pricing. That check usually takes a short site visit and a review of the as-builts.

What slab does a soundstage need?

It needs a thick, very flat floor with good load capacity, often with isolation from the building structure and from nearby traffic. The architect and acoustic consultant set the details. We build the subgrade, the vapor barrier, the reinforcement and the finishing to those requirements.

Can you help with a design-build proposal?

Yes. We provide budget numbers for site work and concrete, phasing ideas and logistics notes for a design-build team. We state our assumptions in writing, such as the geotechnical conditions and the extent of utility work, so the proposal is realistic.

How do you manage drainage on a flat park site?

We design the finished grade so water moves away from buildings and toward inlets, swales or basins, then verify the elevations by survey. Pavements are sloped to drain, and we test the compaction of the base to keep the slopes from settling.