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Council approves Midtown plan updates, clears ENAs for arts center and innovation hub
Summary
The council approved targeted changes to the Midtown master plan to loosen some façade and use restrictions, and approved exclusive negotiation agreements for two Midtown proposals: a Blue Mesa Center for the Arts (artist live/work units and studios) and a New Mexico Innovation Hub (light-industry, commercial and rental housing). The approvals start negotiated development and disposition agreements and require subsequent neighborhood and land‑use reviews.
Metropolitan Redevelopment Agency staff and the planning division asked the council to approve amendments to the Midtown master plan and to authorize exclusive negotiation agreements (ENAs) that move two development proposals into a formal negotiation phase.
Carly Vendetti of the MRA said the proposed changes refine façade-zone language, update permitted-use tables, clarify signage and wayfinding standards, and raise a building-height maximum in places to five stories to match other sections of code. She said the refinements respond to post‑COVID market realities and are intended to facilitate incremental, phased development while preserving requirements for façade articulation and inclusionary housing.
"These are living documents," Vendetti said. "They were highly prescriptive for a master developer. As the MRA now stewards implementation, we need flexibility to negotiate projects incrementally while retaining pedestrian-focused façade articulation and affordability objectives."
Council approved two ENAs to begin negotiation of development and disposition agreements. One ENA covers Tract H1A, the Blue Mesa Center for the Arts, proposed by Dr. Glenn Erickson; the concept includes 43 live-work artist units, 27 work-only studios, 5,000 sq. ft. of workshops and gallery space, and ground-floor tenant involvement such as a coffee house. Another ENA covers Parcels J1A/J1B for a New Mexico Innovation Hub combining light industrial and collaborative space with rental housing and workforce training partnerships; staff emphasized commitments to Santa Fe Green building standards, inclusionary units and local job access.
Carly Vendetti noted ENA approval does not approve final designs; the ENAs create an 18‑month negotiation window, after which a development and disposition agreement (DDA) and administrative land-use review would follow, along with early neighborhood notifications and, once adopted, Metropolitan Redevelopment Commission review per the MRA plan.
Councilors voiced support for keeping community review points and stronger language on façade articulation. The council voted to approve the amendments and both ENAs.
What happens next: MRA staff will negotiate DDAs with the ENA designees, return DDAs to the council for approval, and route site plans through land-use review and early neighborhood notification, with additional design review and community engagement spelled out in the DDA.
