Controversial development in Los Ranchos gets approval from judge

NEW MEXICO (KRQE) – A controversial building project in the Village of Los Ranchos has been given the green light. The Palindrome development first broke ground in 2022 and has faced pushback from residents who felt ignored during the approval process.

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Earlier this year, residents of the Village of Los Ranchos filed a court injunction against the public-private project. Now, a judge has sided with the developers to allow for the construction of more than 200 living apartments and micro retail spaces.

“Here we are out in the Village and it’s like the big city has come to us,” said Lauren Marble, resident of Village of Los Ranchos.

Some neighbors are disappointed after the recent approval of a controversial construction project in the Village of Los Ranchos. The Palindrome development project first broke ground in 2022, promising to bring hundreds of apartments, shops, outdoor space, and more. However, it’s faced criticism from residents who said it would create more traffic, noise, and bring parking and security concerns.

In May, the Los Ranchos Village Trustees voted to file a cou rt injunction against the project, arguing that the previous city officials broke state open meetings law in 2022 when they approved the project without a public meeting. This Tuesday, a judge has sided with developers saying it would do more harm to stop the project which has already started construction.

“It’s like for me, it’s like a monument to corruption, the way it was done and I don’t know how to overcome that,” said Marble.

“You know what I felt of the whole thing, is it was completely done without anybody listening to the voices of the people around here,” said Richard Krause, resident of the Village of Los Ranchos.

Although some residents are against the project, others say they want to see what opportunities it could bring. “We’re actually really excited about this, we think it’s going to bring a lot of people together, bring more community. We’re happy to see it go forward, we think it would’ve been a little bit sad to see it go away,” said Hanna Nelson, resident of the Village of Los Ranchos.

Village of Los Ranchos Trustee member Gilbert Benavides was not on the board when the project was first approved. Although he says he’s not thrilled about the plans, he says it’s too late to turn back, and the focus now should be on making the best of the situation.

“I think we need to learn how to live with the project and live with the people that are going to be moving into those apartments,” said Gilbert Benavides, Trustee for Village of Los Ranchos.

Trustee member Benavides says he wants to start a discussion between the county and city officials to find ways to improve traffic at this intersection. The Palindrome development project is estimated to cost nearly $50 million.

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