More affordable housing urged for midtown campus

Jul. 14—The Santa Fe City Council on Wednesday got a taste of what residents will see during an early neighborhood notification meeting Thursday evening on the planned development of the midtown campus.

The meeting will be held online via Zoom from 5:30 to 7 p.m. and will almost exclusively address potential land use and general plan changes for the 64-acre city-owned former college campus on St. Michael's Drive.

Community members will have a chance to learn more about ideas for the site's future and provide input.

Midtown Project Manager Daniel Hernandez said the space is zoned R-5 (five dwelling units per acre), but under the proposed rezoning, it would switch to a C-2 mixed-use zone, with projected space for about 1,100 new housing units and over 270,000 square feet of commercial space.

"Current land use zoning allows for very low-density residential, primarily single-family homes," Hernandez said. "That is not what we want to see at midtown. That is not the vision that people have expressed to use. They want to see a mixed-use, fairly dense urban center that attracts commercial and housing."

Santa Fe has been preparing for development of the midtown campus for the past few years.

In May 2020, the city struck an exclusive negotiation deal with Dallas-based KDC Real Estate Development & Investments/Cienda Partners to serve as the site's master developer, but the group requested to end the agreement after raising concerns about infrastructure, the condition of some buildings and an uncertain economy amid the coronavirus pandemic.

The city has since shifted gears and is setting the stage to rezone the site in preparation for a series of requests for developer proposals.

A Midtown Redevelopment Plan will be put up for a council vote in October, Hernandez said.

Much of the discussion Wednesday on Hernandez's presentation centered on affordable housing, with Councilor Carol Romero-Wirth questioning how the city could keep homes priced at an affordable level and Councilor Michael Garcia expressing a desire to increase the percentage of affordably priced homes at the site.

If the 1,100 units projected for the midtown campus were constructed, 225 would be priced as affordable, or offered below the market rate, according to the presentation.

Garcia also questioned whether it was possible to exclude the campus from a city program that allows developers to pay a fee to the Affordable Housing Trust Fund instead of offering 15 percent of newly constructed housing units at affordable rates.

"I think the community would like to see a lot more given the astronomical price of housing in this city," Garcia said. "If we are going to be leaders, then we need to develop that space with a leadership mentality and have a lot more than 20 percent [affordable housing]. I would urge we double that."

City Attorney Erin McSherry said she would have to research the question before providing a definitive answer.

Hernandez said the council could add additional affordability standards to portions of the campus but noted a high rate of affordable housing can have a negative impact on land value.

Cities typically strive for about 10 percent to 12 percent of homes in a neighborhood be priced at an affordable rate, he said. He encouraged councilors to examine how other cities have tackled levels of affordability.

"If you concentrate too much, again, you are reducing land values. You are sort of creating a new dynamic," he said. "But those, again, are decisions you have to make."

In other council business:

—Councilors Signe Lindell, Renee Villarreal, Lee Garcia and Amanda Chavez and Mayor Alan Webber introduced a resolution authorizing the sale and consumption of alcohol during the Burning of Zozobra in September.

—Webber and Councilors Romero-Wirth and Chavez introduced a bill establishing an ordinance requiring retailers to pay $150 for every shopping cart returned by a city staffer or a contractor.

—Webber and Councilors Michael Garcia, Chris Rivera, Romero-Wirth and Villarreal introduced a bill changing the permitted location of veteran banners from the Cerrillos Road corridor to a mix of areas including the Railyard District, Guadalupe Street and other streets downtown.

—The City Council voted unanimously to approve a bill amending an ordinance prohibiting the Municipal Court from notifying the state Motor Vehicle Division when a person fails to pay a fine that would result in a revoked driver's license.