Research / Publications
ASSESSMENT OF AN EXPANSION OF THE RAIL YARDS MARKET INTO A PERMANENT PUBLIC MARKET
Commissioned by the Rail Yards Market, this study assessed the feasibility of the Rail Yards Market moving from a pop-up market to a permanent indoor/outdoor marketplace that would potentially occupy one or more buildings at the Rail Yards. A potential business plan for scaling up operations and obtaining funding was outlined and an economic impact analysis was conducted of the market's current operations as for potential expansion scenarios.
The Albuquerque Rail Yards Market (RYM), which since 2014 has been operating weekly on Sundays at the Albuquerque Rail Yards for several months out of the year, is considering an expansion into a permanent public marketplace that would be open up to seven days per week. Such a project would need to be approved by and undertaken in partnership with the City of Albuquerque, the current owner of the site. In 2023, the University of New Mexico’s Bureau of Business and Economic Research (BBER) was contracted by the Rail Yards Market to complete a market analysis, feasibility study, and economic impact analysis of such an expansion. In this Executive Summary, we outline and summarize some of the key findings of this report.