An El Paso developer has begun work on a $30 million, six-building entertainment and event complex with a small, outdoor amphitheater for concerts in Sunland Park, New Mexico, on the edge of West El Paso.
“We’ve been researching this combination of … community event center concept for the last three, four years nationwide, and we’ve tried to put together what we think are the best combination of interesting, community-oriented attractions under one compound,” said David Bingham, president and owner of Heritage Group, a longtime commercial real estate development company.
The Heritage Group is headquartered in Bingham’s nine-story office building, bearing the PNC Bank name, along Interstate 10 in Central El Paso.
The entertainment complex — to be named Independent Nation — is projected to open in the first half of 2025. A groundbreaking ceremony was held Oct. 11.
It is to include three to four restaurants, two to three bars, pickleball, padel and sand volleyball courts, virtual reality rooms, an arcade, and even an ice rink in the winter, Bingham said. One building will have an about 10,000 square-foot space for conventions, weddings and other events, he said. A marijuana store will be next to the complex.
The amphitheater, at the center of the complex, will be able to hold up to about 4,000 people. But Bingham foresees booking bands and other shows seeking more-intimate audiences of less than 1,000 people.
“We’re not depending on concerts as our primary economic driver,” he said.
Bingham’s project isn’t stopping another group from pursuing its plans for a larger concert venue near the Independent Nation site.
“We believe there’s enough room for both venues,” said George Lowen, a partner in the Visneti Group, which is still working on a plan to build an indoor concert hall, with about 5,000 to 6,000 seats, on 21 acres. "We've been aware of his (Bingham's) project for quite some time."
Bingham said he doesn’t see his complex directly competing with Visneti’s proposed venue because it would be seeking different, larger shows, he said.
Sunland Park Mayor Javier Perea said he sees both projects as viable. “But you have to make yourself unique in each space,” he said.
These projects “support the city’s vision for an entertainment district” by capitalizing on Sunland Park Racetrack & Casino and the Western Playland amusement park, Perea said.
Meanwhile, El Paso city officials continue to look for a possible Downtown location for a long-proposed arena for concerts and other events. El Paso County officials also are studying the possibility of adding an amphitheater for concerts in the county-owned Ascarate Park in the Lower Valley.