Site Near Hobbs, NM, Picked as Scientific Ghost Town
Daily News Article — Posted on May 10, 2012
(by Jeri Clausing, KFoxTV.com) ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. – A scientific ghost town in the heart of southeastern New Mexico oil and gas country will hum with the latest next-generation technology – but no people.
A $1 billion city without residents will be developed in Lea County near Hobbs, officials said Tuesday, to help researchers test everything from intelligent traffic systems and next-generation wireless networks to automated washing machines and self-flushing toilets.
Hobbs Mayor Sam Cobb said the unique research facility that looks like an empty city will be a key for diversifying the economy of the nearby community, which after the oil bust of the 1980s saw bumper stickers asking the last person to leave to turn out the lights.
“It brings so many great opportunities and puts us on a world stage,” Cobb told The Associated Press before the announcement.
Pegasus Holdings and its New Mexico subsidiary, CITE Development, said Hobbs and Lea County beat out Las Cruces, for the Center for Innovation, Technology and Testing [CITE].
The CITE project is being billed as a first-of-its kind smart city, or ghost town of sorts, that will be developed on about 15 square miles west of Hobbs.
Bob Brumley, senior managing director of Pegasus Holdings, said the town will be modeled after the real city of Rock Hill, S.C., complete with highways, houses and commercial buildings, old and new. No one will live there, although they could as houses will include all the necessities, like appliances and plumbing.
The point of the town is to enable researchers to test new technologies on existing infrastructure without interfering in everyday life. For instance, while some researchers will be testing smart technologies on old grids, others might be using the streets to test self-driving cars.
“The only thing we won’t be doing is destructive testing, blowing things up – I hope,” said Brumley.
[“The idea for The Center was born out of our own company’s challenges in trying to test new and emerging technologies beyond the confines of a sterile lab environment,” said Mr. Brumley. “The Center will allow private companies, not-for-profits, educational institutions and government agencies to test in a unique facility with real world infrastructure, allowing them to better understand the cost and potential limitations of new technologies prior to introduction.”]Not far from the Texas border, Hobbs has seen new growth in recent years but local leaders have been pushing to expand the area’s reputation to include economic development ventures beyond the staple of oil and gas.
The investors developing CITE were looking for open spaces. Brumley said his group scoured the country for potential sites, “but we kept coming back to New Mexico. New Mexico is unique in so many ways.”
One big plus for New Mexico was its federal research facilities like White Sands Missile Range in southern New Mexico and Los Alamos and Sandia national labs.
Gov. Susana Martinez joined officials in announcing final site selection for the project, which she hailed as “one of the most unique and innovative” economic development projects the state has seen. She noted that no tax breaks were given for the development. “The only thing they have asked for is guidance,” she said.
Brumley said plans are to break ground on the town by June 30. The initial development cost is estimated at $400 million, although Brumley estimates the overall investment in the project to top $1 billion.
The project is expected to create 350 permanent jobs and about 3,500 indirect jobs in its design, development, construction and ongoing operational phases.
Hobbs, a community of about 43,000 people, currently has two non-stop flights from Houston each day and is working on getting daily service to Albuquerque and Denver.
The mayor said discussions for the new flights have just started but having the research center may bolster efforts to connect Hobbs to more cities.
Associated Press. Reprinted here for educational purposes only. May not be reproduced on other websites without permission from kfoxtv.com.
Background
What is Pegasus Global Holdings?
Pegasus Global Holdings is known for its defense contract work, mostly in telecommunications. It is based in Washington, DC and Reston, VA, and has a subsidiary in London. CEO Robert Brumley was a policy advisor to the Secretary of Commerce under former president Ronald Reagan. (from sfreporter.com)
Why New Mexico?
Pegasus chose New Mexico for the project because it's the location of two Energy Department labs and because it has a lot of undeveloped land. The company expects the center to span up to 20 square miles, about the size of New Haven, Conn. In 2011, [Mr.] Brumley said private investors were footing the $200 million bill, and once the personless metropolis is up and running, Pegasus plans to fund operations with access fees and by selling excess power that the facility's energy experiments generate to nearby communities. [Reports now say the research city will cost almost $1 billion to build. It is assumed that private investors will provide the necessary funding.]
(from realestate.msn.com)
What will CITE contain?
CITE will be the first-of-its-kind fully integrated test, evaluation and certification facility replicating a true, modern-day city in size and scope. It will comprise urban, suburban and rural environments and include a mix of new and aging infrastructure. The facility will give clients a one-of-a-kind opportunity to test and evaluate their technologies in a setting that most closely simulates real-world applications. The test infrastructure will not be populated, allowing for a true laboratory without the complication and safety issues arising from having residents. (from lcsun-news.com)