Benzinga | Sep 21, 2021 08:02AM EDT

CoreCivic Enters Into New Lease Agreement With State Of New Mexico At Northwest New Mexico Correction Center; Terms Not Disclosed

CoreCivic, Inc. (NYSE:CXW) (the Company) announced today that it has entered into a new three-year lease agreement with the State of New Mexico at the Company's 596-bed Northwest New Mexico Correctional Center. CoreCivic currently operates the Northwest New Mexico Correctional Center under a contract with New Mexico and will transition facility operations to the New Mexico Corrections Department when the new lease agreement commences on November 1, 2021. CoreCivic will retain responsibility for facility maintenance throughout the term of the lease. The new lease agreement includes automatic extension options that could extend the term of the lease through October 31, 2041.



Damon T. Hininger, CoreCivic's President and Chief Executive Officer, said, "We are pleased to have successfully responded to the shifting needs of our government partners in New Mexico, which will allow them to continue to utilize our Northwest New Mexico Correctional Center while the New Mexico Corrections Department directly provides facility-level operations. Under the new agreement, the state will maintain access to critical capacity, we will generate fixed monthly payments under the lease, and our facility employees will be provided the opportunity to retain employment at the facility with the New Mexico Corrections Department. Including this new agreement, we lease five correctional facilities to five different states through our Properties segment. We believe solutions like this provide our government partners with increased flexibility and value."

The average annual rent for the initial three-year lease term is $3.2 million, including annual rent of $4.2 million in the second and third years of the lease, with annual escalators thereafter. For the six months ended June 30, 2021, the Northwest New Mexico Correctional Center generated revenue of $5.3 million and incurred a facility net operating loss of $1.3 million.