City: Old Railyard buildings can be razed
Removal approved on condition that Planning Commission, council OK replacement project first
Apair of decrepit buildings with debatable historic value may come down to make way for a new project in the Railyard. The City Council approved a request Wednesday to demolish two decades-old structures once associated with the Monte Vista Fuel and Feed Co. — but included a condition that the demolition not take place until a development that would replace them is approved by the Planning Commission and council.
The nonprofit Railyard Community Corp., which manages the city-owned district, has a developer in line to establish a 26-unit condominium development on the site within the mixed-use Baca Street corridor at the southern edge of the Railyard.
An application for the residential project will be ready to bring forward in early 2018, Community Corp. Executive Director Richard Czoski said. He declined to name the condo developer Wednesday.
But councilors said they thought the site could be put to better use.
Councilor Renee Villarreal said she was “really disappointed” in the possibility of a condominium project in the space; condominiums in Santa Fe, she said, become second homes, which then become short-term rentals.
“This is an important centralized area” where a creative affordable housing project could sit, Villarreal said, fulfilling a greater need.
Others said the historic value of the structures was worth maintaining.
“I see character, I see value in these,” said Councilor Chris Rivera. “This is probably why my wife calls me a pack rat.”
The demolition proposal drew the opposition of nearby residents and business owners, who said that while the old buildings are in poor condition, they are nonetheless identified as “historic” in the 2002 Railyard master plan and have value to the area.
“They are part of the vernacular narrative I really want my daughter to be aware of,” said architect Jonah Stanford, who lives near the site.
Roughly 10 residents testified against the demolition.
“A city that forgets its past has no future,” said resident Rick Martinez, who suggested there should be a memorial to the old structures in whatever new project takes root.
The demolitions, which required amendments to the area’s master plan granted Wednesday by the council, would be a disservice to all those who worked on that plan and wanted to see parts of the Railyard preserved, former City Councilor Karen Heldmeyer said.
The two Shoofly Street buildings — an office constructed in 1948 and warehouse built in 1949 — have fallen into disrepair, and despite their designation as historic in the master plan, are not eligible for landmark status with the city register of historic structures.
David Rasch, supervising planner in the city’s Historic Preservation division, wrote in a June memo that the adobe office building “does not retain a high level of historic integrity” owing to an addition made in 1977. Rasch added that its style is not distinctive enough to stand out as an example of a period or method of construction. Nor does it have “important cultural associations.”
The wood-frame warehouse similarly does not rise to a distinctive enough level, and its historic integrity also was diminished by a later addition.
In 2012, a city building official found the latter structure posed a serious threat of collapse.
On Wednesday, Lisa Martinez, the city land use director, said the buildings could not feasibly be moved to another location. “Honestly, I don’t know how they’re even standing at this point,” she said.
The city Planning Commission approved the demolitions in July but recommended they only occur “if and when” a viable proposal for the land is put forward.
Before the vote, Czoski said his group wouldn’t have proactively demolished the structures.
“The demolition won’t occur until there’s a project selected to be built there,” he said.