In a bid to expand color capabilities and increase its commercial work, the Santa Fe New Mexican said it will buy a new offset press from KBA.

The single-wide Comet will anchor a new 55,000-square-foot production facility the New Mexican (daily, 25,268; Sunday, 27,235) is building, said Ty Ransdell, general manager.

“We’re really pleased to have a partnership with KBA,” Ransdell said.

The Comet will be on edition in late 2004 and replace a 30-year-old Goss Urbanite offset press.

The single-wide press will feature four towers and five reelstands, 32 couples, two jaw folders and a quarter-folder. It has a printing capacity of 70,000 copies per hour.

The Comet will let the New Mexican more than double its printing capacity and also enable the newspaper to add color as needed, said Jeff Norris, IT production director.

The New Mexican also prints a sister weekly, The Taos (N.M.) News.

“We won’t necessarily be increasing the page count, but this press will let us add more color capacity,” he said.

Gary Owen, vice president of marketing at KBA, said the sale marks “the Comet’s growing popularity here in America. We are delighted to see the Comet’s horizon expanding into the Southwest. At the same time, this sale further reflects KBA’s continued commitment to the narrow web marketplace and growing North American customer base.”

The New Mexican’s new production facility will also feature an upgraded mailroom, although Norris said any expansion will be built around the New Mexican’s existing GMA inserting system.

Neither Ransdell nor Norris would disclose how much the New Mexican, privately owned by Robin Martin, is paying for the new production plant or the press.