City of Albuquerque officials on Friday said they will not move forward with a proposed lease for a development near the Sunport called the Orion Center.
The massive project was proposed by Theia Group, a startup that wanted to surveil the planet with satellites to inform things like border security, mapping and first responder operations. Satellites were supposed to be built and tested at the Orion Center, which was to include millions of square feet in development near the intersection of Gibson Boulevard SE and Girard Boulevard SE. The plot of land where the Orion Center would be located is called the Aviation Center of Excellence.
“Quite simply the company hasn’t followed through on their commitments," according to a statement from Albuquerque chief operations officer Lawrence Rael.
The decision comes after Theia Group faced federal lawsuits from financial backers and investors. One of those lawsuits led to a federal judge appointing a receiver to oversee the company's assets. Those assets included the startup's Federal Communications Commission licensing that allowed the company to launch and operate a satellite constellation.
“From day one, we were cautiously optimistic. The proposal seemed a little ‘too good to be true' but we wanted to at least give it a shot at no risk to the city. After waiting 8 months for them to seal the deal, it’s time we move on,” Albuquerque Mayor Tim Keller said in a statement. “The promise of the Aviation Center of Excellence is still strong and we are reinvigorated to pursue other tenants that will lift up our city.”
City councilors unanimously approved the proposed 30- to 50-year lease agreement for the Orion Center in April, about five months after Mayor Keller publicly announced the project. At the time of the council vote, Theia Group had leased roughly 176,000 square feet of space at former Raytheon facilities, Business First reported.
Project plans were, frankly, whopping in scale. "At least" 1,000 workers were slated for an assembly facility, Theia's local lead James Reid Gorman told Business First in an interview last year. Additionally, the development would've totaled more than 4 million square feet, turning the land where the Orion Center would be located into a hub for satellite technology.
The multi-use campus would've also included a hotel and amenities, according to documents from the city's Planning Department.
In August, almost four months after city councilors approved the proposed lease, aviation department counsel Peter Pierotti sent a letter from Rael to a Theia Group executive offering a choice. The company could either commit to the Orion Center, and, pending further review from the city, execute the lease and begin paying rent no later than Aug. 30 or abandon the development.
Not long after, financial backers began to file lawsuits against Theia Group. Of particular note was an August lawsuit from FCS Advisors LLC, part of New York City investment firm Brevet Capital Management, which alleged the satellite company owed them more than $300,000,000 combined based on previous loans.
The FCS litigation proved costly and resulted in a court-appointed official — called a receiver — taking over Theia Group's assets, including its valuable licensing from the Federal Communications Commission. The appointment of a receiver is an "extraordinary remedy," but the court "comfortably concludes that it is necessary in this instance," according to an Oct. 29 court order signed by federal judge P. Kevin Castel.
Michael Fuqua, managing director for B. Riley Advisory Services, was subsequently appointed as a receiver on Nov. 8. In an email that month, Sunport spokesman Jonathan Small told Business First that "the various court actions have not concluded yet" and "all of these variables bear on the feasibility of the project."
