SF Studios would get break under draft deal
SANTA FE — A draft agreement between Santa Fe County and Santa Fe Studios would give the film studio until June to pay what that the county says is overdue for purchase of the studio’s site south of town — if Santa Fe Studios pays $200,000 now and meets other terms.
On Thursday, the county filed a foreclosure complaint on the studio property. County government sold the 65-acre site to Santa Fe Studios in 2010 for $2.6 million. The studio has made two payments totaling a little more than $1 million, but the full amount was due in mid-December.
The county says in its foreclosure suit that Santa Fe Studios, with interest and late fees, now owes more than $2.3 million on the mortgage, which was planned to be paid off in regular installments based on the number of jobs created by the studio’s film business.
County spokeswoman Kristine Mihelcic said Monday that under a negotiated “forbearance agreement,” the county would postpone acting on foreclosure until June 13 if Santa Fe Studios: pays $200,000 toward the balance and with a portion as a forbearance fee; pays off $86,000 in unpaid property taxes; makes a “confession of judgment,” agreeing that it owes $2.3 million; and makes monthly 5 percent penalty payments on the unpaid balance. No one for the studio could be reached Monday. On Friday, Santa Fe Studios’ Jason Hool said he was unaware of the foreclosure and that the studio and the county were in agreement on all issues. Hool had called County Manager Katherine Miller at 4:30 a.m. Friday to ask for postponement of foreclosure, but the complaint had already been filed Thursday afternoon. Mihelcic said the forbearance agreement had a Feb. 1 deadline for signing. Before construction began, Santa Fe Studios received a $10 million state grant and the county’s help in the form of a $6.5 million loan guarantee and $3.5 million in infrastructure at the site. The studio has applied for a $22.2 million industrial revenue bond to finance expansion, but county officials say they won’t consider bonds until the land purchase is resolved.