Railyard Costs $1,900 Every Day; Project Could Go Back to City
How would you like to receive a bill for $1,900 a day?
That’s the amount Santa Fe Railyard Community Corporation board members say it’s costing the nonprofit each day that the downtown Railyard redevelopment project is delayed. And they’re not happy about it.
Members of the board told city councilors again this week that the Santa Fe Railyard Community Corporation board is "seriously considering" returning management of the 50-acre Railyard redevelopment project to the city. The increasing costs, coupled with the city’s micro-management of the project, are making it impossible for SFRCC to move forward, board members said during Wednesday’s City Council meeting.
"The Santa Fe Railyard Community Corporation is not making an idle bluff. If we don’t have the opportunity to run the Railyard in connection with the contract we have with the city, we are seriously considering letting the city take this property back," SFRCC board vice president Donald Meyer said, calling the situation "egregious."
The city bought the Railyard property in 1995 for $21 million, and gave SFRCC the responsibility of leasing and managing the mixed- use development in February 2002.
SFRCC pays a portion of the Railyard acquisition debt and makes the debt service payments on the city’s financing for the Railyard’s infrastructure, which is based on the cash flow projections for the Railyard.
The cash flow projections are coming up short, according to SFRCC officials, because the projections relied on factors such as completion of the underground parking garage — which was supposed to be built in 2004 — and development of live/work space at the Railyard. Both are intended to support other Railyard development in several ways, not the least of which is funding.
Railyard Corporation executive director Lleta Scoggins said a number of other contributing factors account for the $1,900 per day figure, including: early lease terminations for former Railyard tenants who were moved out to make way for development; revisions to engineer drawings as a result of directions from the City Council; and the additional staff time needed to work on projects longer than anticipated.
The delayed construction has also made it hard for SFRCC to secure tenants for future Railyard development, Scoggins said.
The corporation has recently come under fire by residents who live near the development. Residents have challenged the corporation’s requests to make changes to the Railyard Master Plan and a few have complained that the nonprofit is uncooperative, working in secret and making big decisions behind closed doors. Some neighbors have even called for the corporation’s ouster.
"It was supposed to be for the people," resident Mary Eva Chavez said, speaking before the City Council on Wednesday. "I’m not pleased at all with what’s going on."
Tension appeared to surface between the city and the corporation following a decision last month by the city’s Public Works Committee, which recommended denial of a proposal by the corporation to shift the positions of three live/work buildings on the site and add balconies to those structures. Public Works had also recommended denial of the corporation’s request to increase the live/work space from 42,600 square feet to 50,000 square feet.
Shortly after the Public Works decision, board members handed a letter to city councilors stating that they would withdraw from the development if the city continues to deny SFRCC the authority to implement the project.
"You said to the Santa Fe Community Railyard Corporation, ‘It is yours for purposes of management governance, meaning it’s yours to take care of,’ ” Meyer said Wednesday. "If you hadn’t liked what was in the master plan, then it was your responsibility at that time to make the changes before you gave it to us to move forward."
The Railyard Community Corporation has scheduled a public hearing at City Hall on Aug. 29. SFRCC will hold a board meeting from 8-10 a.m. Monday at Wild Oats Community Room, 1090 St. Francis Drive.