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Cinelease lists Albuquerque studio for $34 million while expanding ties with Netflix
Cinelease Studios in Albuquerque at 9201 Pan American NE in August. The major film and studio campus is up for sale, listed at $33.9 million, but Cinelease plans to rent the property back for 10 years.
A major Albuquerque film facility is on the market, but its current owner isn鈥檛 going anywhere.
Cinelease Studios 鈥 a division of Cinelease Inc., which offers facilities, services and light and grip equipment to film and television productions across North America 鈥 is selling its roughly 500,000-square-foot film campus at 9201 Pan American NE with the intent of renting it back for 10 years, Cinelease President Mark Lamberton told the Journal.
The property was listed for $33.9 million roughly three weeks ago, Lamberton said.
鈥淲e鈥檙e going to stay there,鈥 Lamberton noted. 鈥淭he reason we鈥檙e selling is we own no locations. We lease all our locations with the exception of this one, that our previous owner bought at the time because it just made sense for them.鈥
Cinelease Inc. was recently acquired by Zello, a private investment company headquartered in California, just over six weeks ago, Lamberton said.
鈥淭he idea is to sell this, lease it back, continue to run and manage it, and then we can kind of reallocate that money toward things we鈥檙e going to need in that market to grow,鈥 Lamberton said.
The lighting and grip provider first established a presence in Albuquerque in 2007, leasing a former warehouse at 531 Gallatin NW. The company expanded and bet big on the Duke City when it purchased the former I-25 Studios on Pan American Freeway and rebranded the facility as Cinelease Studios 鈥 Albuquerque in 2022.
The massive studio features five sound stages spanning more than 100,000 square feet; 41,000 square feet of office space; five acres of backlot space; 75,000 square feet of flex space; 34,000 square feet of storage; more than 15 acres of parking; and a cafeteria that can seat 200 people, according to a fact sheet the company provided. The film site spans 45 acres with around-the-clock gated security, the fact sheet said.
The property has hit the market more than a year after Cinelease announced it would invest $95 million into expanding the Pan American facility over five years.
None of the plans to expand the facility鈥檚 studio space have panned out yet, Lamberton said, adding the company would 鈥渘eed help from somebody that would want to own the real estate to take that on.鈥
Cinelease has laid a foundation for expansion by investing millions into improving the facility 鈥渢o get it to a level where it could handle that type of expansion,鈥 Lamberton said.
Since acquiring the campus in 2022, Cinelease has enhanced sound stage infrastructure, renovated production offices, expanded and paved parking lots, upgraded fire and safety systems, relocated the main entrance off the frontage road and constructed a multi-lane, 24-hour manned security gate, the property fact sheet said.
But whether the studio expansion takes place will be up to the property鈥檚 future buyer, Lamberton said.
Industry slowdown
The property鈥檚 availability comes as New Mexico鈥檚 film industry has experienced a slowdown over the last several years, fueled in part by SAG-AFTRA strikes in 2023 and productions opting to shoot overseas.
The amount film productions spent in New Mexico decreased from roughly $740 million in fiscal year 2024 to $323 million in fiscal year 2025, according to a June from the New Mexico Film Office. However, the number of productions increased from 62 in FY24 to 76 in FY25.
The report attributes this to a greater share of smaller-scale projects taking place over the past year. Productions had an average budget of $4.25 million in FY25, down from an average of more than $12 million per project in FY24.
鈥淭he data reflects New Mexico鈥檚 continued relevance as a production destination, particularly for higher-budget projects when industry conditions are favorable,鈥 the report said.
Some of the productions that have filmed at Cinelease Studios-Albuquerque include 鈥淯nbroken,鈥 鈥淭he Cleaning Lady,鈥 鈥淪tranger Things鈥 and 鈥淓l Tigre.鈥
CBRE, the commercial real estate company responsible for listing the Cinelease property, touts New Mexico鈥檚 competitive film incentive program and network of studios and crew as draws for purchasing the property.
The buyer would essentially be investing in the property by purchasing it, and in return, would benefit from collecting steady rent from a guaranteed tenant for 10 years, as the Pan American facility is 鈥渆ssential鈥 to Cinelease鈥檚 operations in New Mexico, CBRE said.
鈥淚t鈥檚 our flagship location. It鈥檚 not just the film stages and the productions that rent there, but also the equipment that is rented for those productions or anywhere else in New Mexico goes out of this facility,鈥 Lamberton said.
Netflix partnership
The move to sell and lease back the property has already opened up new opportunities, with the company recently signing a long-term lease with Netflix for a roughly 20,000-square-foot warehouse at Netflix Studios Albuquerque, where Cinelease 鈥 a preferred vendor of Netflix 鈥 will store and provide equipment.
The partnership will increase the number of large productions Cinelease can support, as well as create an 鈥渁dded convenience鈥 for productions coming to Netflix Studios Albuquerque, Lamberton said.
鈥淏y doing this long-term leaseback, that鈥檚 going to allow us to do this deal with Netflix,鈥 Lamberton said.
The expansion with a location at Netflix is an indicator of Cinelease鈥檚 optimism about the status and direction of New Mexico鈥檚 film industry, Lamberton said.
鈥淲e really do think it鈥檚 going to get busy,鈥 he said.
The Cinelease president said he hopes the long-term nature of both the partnership with Netflix and the leaseback terms of the Pan American campus listing set the record straight on Cinelease鈥檚 future in New Mexico.
鈥淚t鈥檚 important to us to make sure people know that not only are we not leaving, we鈥檙e doubling down on the market,鈥 Lamberton said. 鈥淲e really do believe in the market. We want to take it bigger there and we鈥檙e making the investments to do so.鈥