Midtown campus committee asks for financial details
It’s all about the money.
All along, the city of Santa Fe has indicated that the financial prowess of candidates vying to be the master developer of the vacant midtown college campus property is paramount for a project estimated to cost more than $400 million and take at least seven to 10 years to complete.
The project evaluation committee in January narrowed the field of seven master developer proposals to three.
The city reported Monday that its 11-member midtown campus evaluation committee has issued a request for clarification, asking the three finalists for details on their economic capacities.
“All three respondents received the same queries asking for details about proposed financing for this project, previous financial track records and their capacity to deliver on the proposals they have submitted,” the city sad in a news release.
The three finalists are expected to appear before the evaluation committee Feb. 20 to provide financial details and answer other questions, according to the release.
The finalists are:
◆ Central Park Santa Fe, headed by Allan Affeldt, who renovated the 1898 Castañeda railroad hotel and the 1882 Plaza Hotel, both in Las Vegas, N.M., and is renovating and reopening the Legal Tender Saloon & Eating House in Lamy.
◆ KDC Real Estate Development and Investments/Cienda Partners, the owners of La Fonda on the Plaza.
◆ Ra±es Education Center of Singapore, which ran the now-defunct Santa Fe University of Art and Design and had tried to buy the midtown campus while it was operating the school.
The city has not named the members of the campus project evaluation committee members but has given the titles of the city officials who serve on it: the directors of economic development (Rich Brown), planning (Noah Berke), public works (Regina Wheeler), affordable housing (Alexandra Ladd) and arts and culture (Pauline Kanako Kamiyama). Other staff members of these department also are serving on the committee, according to the city.
Asked to provide the names of the committee members, city spokeswoman Lilia Chacon said in an email, “That has not been made public. I’ll share your inquiry to see if that’s changed.”