Dec. 26—Santa Fe Asian Market opens: Santa Fe is a foodie town but the City Different entered 2022 with zero Asian, Middle Eastern and European food markets (other than the small offering of Italian goods at Deli at Sassella). David Thianhlun changed that in March when he opened the Santa Fe Asian Market at St. Michael's Village West shopping center with keen public interest. In December, James Campbell Caruso opened La Boca Bodega, a small Spanish-themed food outlet next to his La Boca restaurant.

Recreational marijuana: Dozens of cannabis shops opened in Santa Fe as recreational marijuana became legal April 1.

Santa Fe Regional Airport expansion: The city started construction in February on tripling the parking lot for a 7,500-square-foot expansion to the 11,000-square-foot terminal. This is the first airport terminal expansion since the terminal was built in 1957.

Big box arrivals: Sierra and Conn's HomePlus arrived to fill long-vacant anchor spaces at DeVargas Center and Santa Fe Place. Conn's opened in June in the western anchor space that had been largely vacant since Mervyn's went out of business in 2008. Sierra opened in October at DeVargas Center in space empty since Hastings Entertainment went out of business in 2016.

Second Street Brewing: Second Street Brewing closed its original Second Street location, where the craft brewery was launched in 1996. Second Street continues operating on Rufina Street, where the main brewery is located, and at the Railyard.

Changing of the Guard: Longtime owners sold The Bull Ring and Santa Fe Bar & Grill. The Bull Ring owner Harry Georgeades in September sold the fine-dining steakhouse that he had owned since 1981 to a team headed by Clint Singley, who heads Santa Fe Capitol Grill and whose family owns the three Pantry restaurants. In November, Rob Day sold Santa Fe Bar & Grill, which he had opened in 2002, to Josh Gerwin, owner of Dr. Field Goods Kitchen.

Descartes Labs sold: New York private equity firm Antarctica Capital gained a "controlling interest" in Descartes Labs, which had been Santa Fe's high-tech darling since it was established in Los Alamos in 2014. Descartes moved to Santa Fe in 2018 with much publicity and $800,000 in state and city subsidies. Descartes reportedly had more than 100 employees at that time. But Descartes Labs moved out of its office in the early months of the coronavirus pandemic with everybody working remotely. By the time Antarctica Capital came along, Descartes Labs had only 17 employees in Santa Fe and a total of 90 employees in 16 states.

OpenEye acquired by Cadence: Santa Fe-based molecular modeling software company OpenEye Scientific Software in October was acquired by Silicon Valley electronics systems design giant Cadence Design Systems. OpenEye is considered Santa Fe's largest tech company with 130 employees, 85 located in Santa Fe. Officials said OpenEye will remain intact and in Santa Fe.

New tennis complex: First Serve New Mexico founder and president Eleanor Brenner joined forces with oil magnate Scott and Kimberley Sheffield to start construction on a $12 million, 12-court tennis complex to be shared by First Serve, an after-school tutoring program, and Forked Lightning Racquet Club, a private tennis club. The complex will be located on the former New Mexico Horseman's Association grounds among the Genoveva Chavez Community Center, Santa Fe County Fairgrounds and Rodeo de Santa Fe.

Million-dollar homes: More than 500 homes in Santa Fe County sold for more than $1 million in 2021, more than double the number in 2019 and nearly four times the number in 2016. That amounts to 409 homes sold at between $1 million and $2 million and 99 homes at $2 million and more. Even in midtown and south side Santa Fe, the median home price in 2022 reached $451,000.

Unaffordable apartments: Five years ago the average rent in Santa Fe was about $850 per month and the "living wage" or minimum wage was $11.09 an hour. This year the "average" rental rate hovers around $1,400 to $1,600 a month and the city's "living wage" is $12.95 an hour. Estimates are it takes at least $20 per hour to reasonably live in Santa Fe on your own.

Parting Stone expands to Australia: Parting Stone, which solidifies cremated remains into decorative stones, partnered with Australia's largest funeral service company to open a Parting Stone lab near Sydney, Australia. It is the first venture beyond North America for the three-year-old Santa Fe company.

Midtown campus redux: The city of Santa Fe completed another master plan for the redevelopment of the city-owned, 64-acre midtown campus — the former College of Santa Fe and former Santa Fe University of Art Design campus. The city issued three requests for proposals to revive the Greer Garson Theatre and Visual Arts Center and expand the Studio Production Lot, where Garson Studios is active.

Also of note: Carlos Andre opened his biggest El Paisano Supermarkets yet on Airport Road. Coldwell Banker Mountain Properties moved into the longtime former Santa Fe Reporter space and Sommer Udall law firm moved into former Coldwell Banker space. Meow Wolf announced its next two locations: Grapevine and Houston, both in Texas. Medly Health filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy just a year after acquiring the Pharmaca Integrative Health Pharmacy chain.