new executive office building once again under consideration in santa fe

A new building designed to house a number of different State of New Mexico offices is once again in the talking stage in Santa Fe.

What roughly a decade ago was simply being referred to as an executive office building would have seen the construction of a three-story, 56,000 square foot structure near the State Capitol.

Members of the Capitol Buildings Planning Commission voiced support for the project, as did the New Mexico State Legislature, which approved bond funding of up to $115 million for the building.

But momentum was lost after the Santa Fe Historic Districts Review Board in the summer of 2012 affirmed that the one-story buildings on Don Gaspar Avenue that would be demolished to make way for the new structure were regarded as significant.

That status is the highest level that the board uses in classifying historic property.

The structures in question were all built in the 1930s and originally served as houses.

Now a new effort by the state’s General Services Division may bring the project back to life, with that agency studying location options and the possible need to update a previous state master plan that had originally suggested the building’s construction.

That report could be completed later this year.

By Garry Boulard

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