Colo.-based escape room coming to Santa Fe Railyard
SANTA FE — A Colorado-based escape room company is expected to move into the city-owned Santa Fe Railyard in the coming weeks.
Puzzah! signed a lease in the fall to occupy space in the Market Station building, whose tenants now include REI and city offices. Puzzah! Cofounder Ryan Pachmayer said the new escape room should open during the second week of March.
The company has a 10-year lease for approximately 3,000 square feet of space, confirmed Shona Martinez, an associate broker for Albuquerque’s Colliers International office. Martinez represented Puzzah! in the agreement.
Puzzah! began operations in 2014 and has locations in Denver and nearby Broomfield, Colo., that offer a variety of team challenges or scenarios that customers have 60 minutes to solve. According to Pachmayer, something that sets Puzzah! apart is its use of technology. He said its system includes lighting, sound effects, videos, animations and other features.
“Whether you’re getting information on a video screen or an object changes itself or something magically appears on the wall, everything is integrated and we leverage that technology to make things a little more magical,” he explained.
The games can also can make changes based on the team, he said. If a family group with kids is moving at a slower pace, the system can provide help. For puzzle buffs solving clues more quickly, it can increase the difficulty or unlock hidden challenges.
Games will cost $25 a person.
The company was interested in Santa Fe because of similarities with its Denver-area locations, Pachmayer said. Both areas are arts-focused and attract tourists. “Even though (Santa Fe is) a unique place, it feels like a familiar market to expand into,” he said.
Richard Czoski, executive director of the Santa Fe Railyard Community Corp. — the nonprofit that manages the Railyard for city government — said Puzzah! would give people another reason to visit. Any new occupancy at Market Station is a positive thing, he said.
The Market Station building has long been a trouble spot for the Railyard. The original developers filed for bankruptcy. Their lender, Californiabased Thorofare Capital, took over ownership of the building in early 2018.