santa fe proposed senior housing facility gets green light

A long-discussed plan to build a new 68-unit residential complex for seniors in Santa Fe has taken a significant step forward.

Members of the Santa Fe City Council have voted to approve the issuance of $80 million in industrial revenue bonds to fund the project’s construction.

The project will go up at the intersection of Old Taos Highway and Paseo de Peralta on a 2.5-acre site that was once the home to the Ghost Ranch education and retreat center.

The new complex will be owned and operated by El Castillo, a continuing care retirement community founded in Santa Fe in 1971.

El Castillo signed a purchase agreement in early 2017 with the Presbyterian Church USA of Louisville, Kentucky for the Ghost Ranch property.

Earlier this summer, the city’s Historic Districts Review Board gave its approval to El Castillo building a three-story structure on the property.

Prior to the city council vote, El Castillo agreed to take on additional payments in lieu of taxes in return for securing the industrial bond funding. Revenue from those taxes would go to the Santa Fe Public Schools, as well as Santa Fe Community College, for the duration of the 30-year bond.

Plans for the site include a main building to be designed in what has been called “recent Santa Fe style,” with vigas and beams.  The units will range in size from 900 to 1,300 square feet.

The facility site will also include an outdoor courtyard and 60,000 square feet of underground parking space.

By Garry Boulard

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