In a move to enhance its prospects for redevelopment, Santa Fe city officials are thinking of giving a new designation to a 64-acre former college campus in the middle of the city.
The site at 1600 St. Michaels Drive was once home to the Santa Fe University of Art and Design, which closed its doors in the spring of 2018.
An extensive effort with a decided emphasis on public input has since taken place asking residents, as well as business and community leaders, to imagine a new purpose for the sprawling campus.
Although a consensus eventually emerged pointing in the direction of building new affordable housing, as well as some retail and office space, a Dallas-based firm tasked with developing an official master plan backed out last year, explaining that, at $30 million, it would cost too much to upgrade and renovate some of the existing structures on the campus.
Now a move is underway to have the site declared a “blighted area,” a designation that could spur state and even federal funding. If approved by the Santa Fe City Council, the designation would also encompass some of the residential neighbors adjacent to the campus.
The designation would be implemented under the state’s Metropolitan Redevelopment Act, which, in turn, will allow for the awarding of state economic development grants to fund new construction and infrastructure work at the site.
Ultimately, the blighted area designation will have to be approved by the Santa Fe City Council, members of which have heard from residents anxious for something to happen on a site purchased by the city more than a decade ago for $30 million.
By Garry Boulard
