Mixed-use development off Richards Avenue ready to break ground
Apr. 16—A development south of Santa Fe that two landowners have envisioned for nearly a decade could break ground within weeks.
The Santa Fe County Commission on Monday gave unanimous final approval to the first phase of the project, which will transform a vacant 64-acre property off Richards Avenue, between Oshara Village and Interstate 25, into a mixed residential and commercial development.
The Corrillo de Vida Hermosa development group hopes to begin construction on the project's first phase "as soon as possible" and no later than June, said Oralynn Guerrerortiz, a design agent for the group.
Construction should take six to nine months, said development partner Delilah Mirabal, a controller at the Albuquerque-based concrete company Roadrunner Redi-Mix Inc.
The commission first approved a master plan for the site in 2015 after the property's previous owner, Esmail Haidari of Albuquerque, proposed a mixed-use community. Julie Villegas, the owner of Roadrunner Redi-Mix, acquired the property in 2021.
After various changes, the most recent plans for the site include 10 lots that could include a "laundry list" of uses, developers said. Under the proposal, half the property would remain open space, and could include a cemetery, wastewater treatment facility and horseback riding stables, as well as parks and trails.
The already-approved first phase of the development could include a funeral home and 400-seat religious institution, as well as a facility to store recreational vehicles and boats.
The larger second phase of the project — which has received preliminary approval from the commission — could add businesses such as retailers, banks, medical or other professional offices, restaurants, a grocery store, indoor recreation centers, schools, a veterinary hospital, day care and an assisted living facility or nursing home.
It also would include up to 95 units of multifamily housing — either apartments, condos or townhomes. At least 8% of the housing would be affordable, in accordance with the county's Sustainable Land Development Code.
The developers recently added day care and independent living facilities to the list of possible uses of the property, but scratched a proposal for hotel based on market research, Guerrerortiz said. In August, the group also withdrew a request to allow a crematorium on the property in response to a barrage of concerns from nearby residents. Public hearings on the development drew few reactions outside the opposition to the crematorium.
The second, final phase of the so-called Saleh development is likely three to four years away, Guerrerortiz told county commissioners in December.
Mirabal said the development group looks forward to bringing businesses to an area of the county that is largely residential.
"We would like to make it a place where people can shop, eat, hang out and enjoy the neighborhood," she said.
