Process water leaves a food plant warm, loaded with organics and in volumes a municipal sewer was never sized for, and that single fact shapes where a producer in this metro can build. We have seen the question of wastewater decide a site before anyone looked at the building, and we raise it in the first meeting.
Food and beverage plants are built to be cleaned. Floors slope to drains, walls are smooth and sealed, ceilings and lights are designed to avoid collecting dust, and every joint, penetration and door is a place that sanitation crews will inspect. The structure around those details is often a tilt-wall or insulated-panel building much like any other industrial shell, but the interior is a different project entirely.
We build new plants, additions and co-packer space for regional producers, bakeries, bottlers and ingredient processors, working with the owner's food safety and equipment teams. Our job is to deliver the floor, drains, utilities and finishes so that the plant passes its first inspection and keeps passing.
Most sanitary problems begin below the floor. We schedule and supervise excavation, underground plumbing and the slab, because the drain slopes, trench drains, sumps and wastewater lines have to match the process equipment layout to the inch. The industrial concrete floors we place for food plants use dense, sealed concrete topped with a chemical-resistant coating or a urethane system selected for thermal shock, acids and washdown.
Floor drainage is continuous work. Slopes to drains of one-eighth to a quarter inch per foot, coved wall bases and joint sealants that stay flexible in hot and cold zones are all details that look small on paper and decide how often the plant has to stop for repairs.
Outside municipal service areas, wastewater is a serious constraint. In Corrales, for example, much of the village lacks centralized water or sewage, many properties use their own wells and septic systems, and new homes are no longer allowed to install leach fields. A food plant with process wastewater cannot rely on a septic system in a place like that, and it needs either a sewer connection or an engineered pretreatment plant.
The Huning Business and Tech Park in Los Lunas is marketed with all utilities available and water and sewer provided by the village, a combination food and beverage producers look for. In the South Valley, two municipal wells were shut down in 1981 because of low levels of organic solvents and other contaminants, and the site remains on the Superfund list, so groundwater history is something we ask about on parcels in that area.
The 500-acre Los Morros Business Park beside the Los Lunas data center campus lists tenants that include a regional retail distribution center, a metal-coating firm, a medical equipment maker and a bottling company, which shows how food-grade production sits among other industries in the Central New Mexico Rail Park area. Rail access, I-25 and a large labor draw from the metro make the south valley practical for producers who ship regionally.
Inside the city, producers who need to be close to customers look at older industrial space that can be adapted, which is where our industrial renovations and modernization work comes in. An older building may have the right location but the wrong floor, ceiling and utilities for food production.
The building is permitted under the 2021 New Mexico Commercial Building Code, 14.7.2 NMAC, and plumbing and mechanical work follows the editions in force on the permit date, with the 2024 editions effective August 1, 2026 and permits under either edition until January 1, 2027. Food safety review is a separate track with its own regulators, and producers selling widely often add federal inspection or a third-party audit.
We organize drawings so food safety reviewers can see hygiene zones, traffic flow, drain layout and finishes in one set. Early alignment with those reviewers saves rework on interiors.
Additions to a working plant raise contamination risk as well as the usual hazards. We seal the construction zone, keep dust and debris out of production areas, control vehicle routes so that construction traffic never crosses a product path, and wash down before any area is handed back. Hot work and demolition get permits and fire watches, and ammonia or chemical lines are locked out and verified before anyone opens them.
Because many producers expand in Los Lunas or add a line in an existing building, we plan these controls into the schedule at the start and review them with your quality team before work begins.
Interior finishes, floors, utilities and wastewater treatment cost more than a standard industrial building, and the equipment connections are extensive. Refrigeration, steam, compressed air and process water each need distribution, and each needs space in the ceiling and the floor.
A plant with a cold chain often pairs with cold storage, which adds its own insulated slab and dock requirements. Owners should plan the whole footprint together to avoid a second set of site work later.
A food plant is not finished at substantial completion. Systems must be commissioned, sanitation procedures validated, and often an audit passed before production begins. We build time for these steps into the schedule and prepare the documentation inspectors ask for, including as-built drain and utility drawings. When the plant is expanded, our manufacturing plant experience in phased work helps keep existing lines running.
Send us the product, the daily water use and the site you are considering. We will tell you what utilities and finishes the plant needs and how much time and money they add. Our food and beverage work covers new plants and expansions.
It depends on temperatures, chemicals and washdown frequency. Dense sealed concrete with a urethane or epoxy system suits many areas, while wet and hot zones may need heavier systems. We review the sanitation plan before choosing a system.
Sometimes. If your process water exceeds what the local sewer can accept, or if the site lacks sewer service, pretreatment is required. We help you find out before you buy the land.
Often yes, but it depends on the floor, drainage, ceiling height and utilities. We assess the building first and tell you what has to be rebuilt. Sometimes a new building costs less than a conversion.
We prepare drawings, material data and as-built records in the format reviewers expect, and we coordinate inspections with your quality team. Sanitary design issues are corrected before they become findings.
Sites in Los Lunas with village water and sewer, and sites on the west mesa and northeast Albuquerque with city utilities, are common. The best choice depends on water use, rail needs and customer distance.
Tell us about the property, the building and the schedule.
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