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Historic
Preservation
​Issue:

Four Historic Homes on Don Gaspar Avenue, across from the New Mexico State Capitol Roundhouse, are targeted for demolition to make way for a 4-story, 165,000 sq. ft. building.

​The building's size and inappropriate design does not complement Santa Fe's style, architecture and history.

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Here’s the story:
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The State Government wants to build a 165,000 sq. ft. office building on Don Gaspar Avenue (with a security bridge over the street to the Capitol building). For reference, the Roundhouse itself is 232,000 sq. ft., so the projected building would be slightly smaller than the capitol. This "Executive Office Building" would be 3-4 stories, built in big blocky masses, with 700+ parking spaces. Although there is not an architect attached to the project, consider the State’s past design decisions—e.g., the Attorney General's Office on Galisteo, the first judicial court on Sandoval. When the State demos buildings for new construction, locals regularly end up with a building that isn't context-sensitive and doesn't fit into our regional architectural design. 

To build this 165,000 sq. ft. office building, the State believes it must demolish 4 historic casitas on Don Gaspar and the now-historic Concha Ortiz y Pino building, which is on Galisteo. 

OSFA believes demolition of historic casitas for 165,000 sq. ft. of new construction is not the answer. We believe the community can help think creatively to maintain historic structures while providing for the office space sought by the State.

Pictured are three different views of a rendering of a 200,000 sq ft building, showing its mass in relation to the 2-story parking garage on Paseo de Peralta and to the Bataan Building to the south. Note the unnecessary security bridge spanning across Don Gaspar to the Roundhouse — a one-way, one lane road, with diagonal parking on each side and minimal traffic.

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How could the project change for the better?

When states or corporations act present their plans are foregone conclusions, they foreclose public debate. This is a huge project, but it is not a foregone conclusion—alternatives exist:

Develop smaller office space between the Concha Ortiz y Pino and the Casitas. The Old Santa Fe Association previously did a site study proposing the state build a smaller-but-still-sizable office building (50,000 sq. ft.) between the motor pool between the Concha Ortiz y Pino building and the Historic Casitas. The historic buildings could be preserved and the state could still increase its office space proximate to the roundhouse.

Affordable Housing. From a letter from the City’s affordable housing office, for example, the state *could* donate all these properties to be developed as affordable housing instead. The state is exempt from its anti-donation clause in cases of affordable housing use—what a perfect way to bridge the gap between historic preservation and affordable housing.

Use already existing office space. According to commercial developers in town, there is ample office space in the near-downtown area (to say nothing of the success of remote working these days). The Concha Ortiz y Pino and the Historic Casitas can clearly function as office space. The state does not need a 3-story, 200,000 sq. ft. building to do its business. This is bureaucratic bloat that ignores the advantages of historic property re-use.

Convert buildings for adaptive re-use and maintain historic facades. Many cities have repurposed historic houses as offices and built new attached buildings to historic ones. The State could maintain the casitas and Ortiz y Pino buildings as the street-fronted, welcoming entryways into a larger interconnected office building. This would prevent destruction of historic structures, spotlight sustainability and the values of preservation, and still provide office space for capitol workers.
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What can I do?

Spread the word! Tell other locals. This project is not well known but it will have a huge impact on Don Gaspar, South Capitol, and Galisteo streetscapes — a 165,000 sq. ft. impact. But it could change with citizen input! Let's start a productive conversation.

Speak out! Please consider learning more about this project and suggesting alternatives to it through public comment via the PrimeGov system. Click here for the meeting agenda.

Come to the Historic Districts Review Board (HDRB) meetings! Show up in person to the HDRB meetings at City Hall. If you would like to speak in support of OSFA's request for community input in this process, please write to [email protected] and OSFA will provide talking points. Not everyone needs to speak — just showing up indicates support and makes a difference.

OSFA wants to be a community partner that can help shape this project into a context-sensitive and appropriate-in-scale building for the downtown area without overshadowing the Roundhouse and Capitol area.

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Below (bottom of page), a plan view showing the building superimposed over the site of the Concha Ortiz y Pino building and the 4 historic casitas.

Above, a section view of one version of the Executive Office Building planned by the State between Galisteo and Don Gaspar. In this drawing, the building would be 4 stories on the west end in this version of the plan, 3 stories to the east, with a curious "security" bridge across Don Gaspar.