Archdiocese downtown project takes shape
May 7, 2008
Archdiocese downtown project takes shape
New plans scrap hotel, incorporate pedestrian corridor
Julie Ann Grimm | The New Mexican
Former classrooms at St. Francis Cathedral School would become loft apartments as part of an evolving redevelopment plan for a downtown Santa Fe block.
Details about proposed uses of 5.5 acres owned by the Archdiocese of Santa Fe are emerging as El Paso's Hunt Development Group, which has leased the land, prepares to seek the next level of city approvals.
While the project originally was expected to include a hotel, that idea was scrapped after a hotel chain purchased the adjoining former St. Vincent Hospital property with plans to redevelop that into lodging.
About 62 percent of the archdiocese land would be covered by buildings, with ground floors likely to be used for stores and galleries. Some upper stories could have outdoor rooftop-terrace space suitable for restaurants.
A 600-space underground parking garage also is planned.
Because the development is situated on a line between the Plaza area and the lower end of Canyon Road, Gary Sapp, president of Hunt's Southwest division, said designs will incorporate a pedestrian corridor intended to connect those tourist destinations.
While many of the architectural features of the design are undetermined, Sapp said one objective is to avoid seeking further variances from the city code.
"We understand the angst that is inherent whenever anyone is building new buildings in old cities," Sapp said, "and we respect that."
Planners in 2006 secured a height variance from the Historic Design Review Board that will allow up to 15 percent of new building area to rise to three stories.
But political drama unfolded when the project planners sought City Council approval for more tall buildings. Proponents then retreated from that idea and are refining plans to fit within the approved zoning and design limits, Sapp said.
"We spent the last year talking to design professionals and architectural historians and community members and city staff," he said, "and through that process has evolved a site plan concept. ... It's still evolving, and it isn't done yet."
The site — much of which is now used for surface parking — is bounded by Cathedral Place, East Alameda Street, Paseo de Peralta, the old hospital property and the Cathedral Basilica of St. Francis of Assisi.
Hunt Development Group plans to make presentations next month to the Historic Design Review Board and to the Business Capital District Design Review Board, not as formal submissions, Sapp said, but as a way to gauge whether the designs are consistent with city rules and board opinions.
In addition to the Cathedral School, two historic buildings now used by the church for offices and for a museum will remain on the site. About eight new buildings are penciled into designs, which also call for stepped-back second stories and, in some cases, third stories. Building facades would also mimic existing Santa Fe streetscapes with varied elevations for distinct uses within each building.
While the classroom part of the former parochial school on East Alameda and Paseo de Peralta will likely be residential, the portion of the building that formerly housed administrative offices and a gymnasium could become commercial space, according to Sapp.
The archdiocese has said it will use revenue from the redevelopment project to pay for the new regional Roman Catholic elementary school that opened south of town in 2006. Hunt's payments to the archdiocese would increase as the downtown property is redeveloped, but the archdiocese has said the exact terms of the lease are confidential.
Last fall, Drury Hotels, a Midwestern hotel chain, paid more than $20 million to a real-estate partnership to buy the nearly 5-acre site of Santa Fe's first hospital, which includes the circa 1911 Marian Hall and 1950s-era La Villa Rivera building.
A spokesman said in December that Drury Hotels, which operates hotels in 19 states, wants to preserve and restore the multistory buildings on that site.
Contact Julie Ann Grimm at 986-3017 or jgrimm@sfnewmexican.com.
New plans scrap hotel, incorporate pedestrian corridor
Julie Ann Grimm | The New Mexican
Former classrooms at St. Francis Cathedral School would become loft apartments as part of an evolving redevelopment plan for a downtown Santa Fe block.
Details about proposed uses of 5.5 acres owned by the Archdiocese of Santa Fe are emerging as El Paso's Hunt Development Group, which has leased the land, prepares to seek the next level of city approvals.
While the project originally was expected to include a hotel, that idea was scrapped after a hotel chain purchased the adjoining former St. Vincent Hospital property with plans to redevelop that into lodging.
About 62 percent of the archdiocese land would be covered by buildings, with ground floors likely to be used for stores and galleries. Some upper stories could have outdoor rooftop-terrace space suitable for restaurants.
A 600-space underground parking garage also is planned.
Because the development is situated on a line between the Plaza area and the lower end of Canyon Road, Gary Sapp, president of Hunt's Southwest division, said designs will incorporate a pedestrian corridor intended to connect those tourist destinations.
While many of the architectural features of the design are undetermined, Sapp said one objective is to avoid seeking further variances from the city code.
"We understand the angst that is inherent whenever anyone is building new buildings in old cities," Sapp said, "and we respect that."
Planners in 2006 secured a height variance from the Historic Design Review Board that will allow up to 15 percent of new building area to rise to three stories.
But political drama unfolded when the project planners sought City Council approval for more tall buildings. Proponents then retreated from that idea and are refining plans to fit within the approved zoning and design limits, Sapp said.
"We spent the last year talking to design professionals and architectural historians and community members and city staff," he said, "and through that process has evolved a site plan concept. ... It's still evolving, and it isn't done yet."
The site — much of which is now used for surface parking — is bounded by Cathedral Place, East Alameda Street, Paseo de Peralta, the old hospital property and the Cathedral Basilica of St. Francis of Assisi.
Hunt Development Group plans to make presentations next month to the Historic Design Review Board and to the Business Capital District Design Review Board, not as formal submissions, Sapp said, but as a way to gauge whether the designs are consistent with city rules and board opinions.
In addition to the Cathedral School, two historic buildings now used by the church for offices and for a museum will remain on the site. About eight new buildings are penciled into designs, which also call for stepped-back second stories and, in some cases, third stories. Building facades would also mimic existing Santa Fe streetscapes with varied elevations for distinct uses within each building.
While the classroom part of the former parochial school on East Alameda and Paseo de Peralta will likely be residential, the portion of the building that formerly housed administrative offices and a gymnasium could become commercial space, according to Sapp.
The archdiocese has said it will use revenue from the redevelopment project to pay for the new regional Roman Catholic elementary school that opened south of town in 2006. Hunt's payments to the archdiocese would increase as the downtown property is redeveloped, but the archdiocese has said the exact terms of the lease are confidential.
Last fall, Drury Hotels, a Midwestern hotel chain, paid more than $20 million to a real-estate partnership to buy the nearly 5-acre site of Santa Fe's first hospital, which includes the circa 1911 Marian Hall and 1950s-era La Villa Rivera building.
A spokesman said in December that Drury Hotels, which operates hotels in 19 states, wants to preserve and restore the multistory buildings on that site.
Contact Julie Ann Grimm at 986-3017 or jgrimm@sfnewmexican.com.