NM: Progress on contentious Zia Station development moves forward, despite neighbors' complaints

The first phase of a long-planned, mixed-use development adjacent to the New Mexico Rail Runner Express train station on West Zia Road has moved into high gear.

Work continues on infrastructure and road improvements at the development, in a busy area of Santa Fe just off South St. Francis Drive, and the construction of a new apartment complex with affordable units has gotten underway.

The developers tout the Zia Station project’s location — near a train station and a popular trail, and not far from downtown — and their efforts to help increase the city’s affordable housing stock.

But the Zia Station project continues to draw fire from the leader of a nearby neighborhood association, who maintains it has badly disrupted the flow of traffic in the area and led to other problems.

Ed “Aku” Oppenheimer, president of the Candlelight Neighborhood Association and part of a coalition of residents who sued unsuccessfully to stop the development, said city officials have allowed the developers to make numerous unwarranted changes to established planning guidelines, and the construction work has made it nearly impossible to navigate West Zia Road.

“We’re incredibly disappointed,” Oppenheimer said of plans for the project and the way it has unfolded so far.

“We’re left completely astonished about what we consider to be violations of, if not the letter of the law, then the spirit of the law numerous times in developing this,” he added.

Affordable housing in the mix

Plans for the Zia Station development, approved by the Santa Fe Planning Commission in 2022, call for the construction of nearly 400 housing units and assorted retail enterprises just west of South St. Francis Drive and on both sides of West Zia Road.

The infrastructure and roadwork began in December, while grading work began May 29 on the site of a 244-unit apartment complex, notable for 10% of its units, 24 apartments, being classified as “affordable.”

That will make Zia Flats the first multifamily housing project in Santa Fe to provide affordable units instead of the developer opting to pay a fee to the city’s Affordable Housing Trust Fund, the company claims.

Construction of the complex, known as Zia Flats, is expected to take 22 months, with an opening planned in early 2027, according to developer Peter Aberg of the Aberg Property Co.

Merritt Brown, a co-owner of SF Brown Inc., one of the partners in the mixed-use development, said the project has been a complicated one with many moving parts. But he said he welcomed the start of construction on Zia Flats and looks forward to more elements of the plan taking shape.

“My big thing was getting started on all this infrastructure, but it is great to that finally starting,” he said of Zia Flats.

Aberg said his company designed the apartment project with the affordable units included, never considering the alternative route of paying a fee to the city in lieu of meeting its affordable housing requirements. The decision was based on a desire by his company to do the right thing in a market that long has suffered from a lack of affordable units, he added.

The complex will feature a mix of studio, one-bedroom and two-bedroom units. The apartments designated as affordable, or offered below market rates, will start at around $1,200 monthly for studio and one-bedroom units.

Aberg said it was too early to determine rent prices for the market-rate apartments.

Zia Flats will feature a pool, a clubhouse with a co-working space, a fitness center and courtyards with fire pits. The complex will consist of two- and three-story buildings.

Aberg said he believes the site is a great fit for a large apartment complex, given its proximity to the commuter rail station, Interstate 25 and downtown.

“It’s the ideal location,” he said.

It was no coincidence Zia Flats is being built adjacent to a Rail Runner Express station.

“It’s a huge consideration,” Aberg said, noting the other two apartment complexes the Aberg Property Co. has built in Santa Fe — Railyard Flats at 701 Camino de la Familia and Capital Flats at 950 Cordova Road — also are located next to Rail Runner stations.

“And all three of our projects are on the [ Santa Fe] Rail Trail,” he said. “We’re proud of the fact we’re considered to be the best location in Santa Fe. I think we’re getting rewarded for that down the road with the success of the projects.”

He also noted Zia Flats’ location, just a few miles from downtown, should appeal to apartment seekers, with most of the city’s new apartment inventory springing up on the south side.

“We think, where we develop, that location matters,” he said. “It’s the first thing we think of.”

There was significant pent-up demand for new apartment housing in the city when his company built Railyard Flats nearly 10 years ago, Aberg said, a condition that was confirmed when the complex filled up quickly.

However, Railyard Flats, which opened in 2018, suffered a power failure in 2022 that forced all residents to vacate their units. The complex was shut down for nearly six months before residents could return; by then many had found other housing or had left the city.

‘Hazardous to pedestrians’

Roadwork at the Zia Station site — in particular a deceleration lane on eastbound Zia Road just west of Galisteo Road — sparked controversy when part of the 6.6-acre Candelero Park was graded to prepare for construction of the lane.

Oppenheimer and other residents complained about the move, claiming it wasn’t included in the approval process, but city officials rejected their argument.

That dispute was just the latest grievance by the group. Oppenheimer said he and other residents are very concerned about the traffic pattern that has been planned for Zia Road, one he said will limit the ability of Zia Flats residents to access the eastbound lane of Zia Road and force them to make a U-turn farther west.

That will create a hazardous situation in which motorists, bicyclists and pedestrians are going to be thrown together in a concentrated, chaotic space, he said.

“This was pitched as a transit-oriented development,” Oppenheimer said. “It’s not a transit-oriented development. This does not qualify, and it’s going to be most hazardous to pedestrians.”

The disruptions caused by the road and infrastructure work have been worse than he expected, he said, citing noise and dust, as well as poor lane marking in the project’s early stages. After he and other residents complained, that improved, he said.

“They have responded with better traffic guidance,” Oppenheimer said.

Brown declined to comment on the neighbors’ complaints.

The project’s next steps

Brown said a major aspect of the roadwork is the realignment of Galisteo Road on the south side of Zia and the extension of Galisteo on the north side, where it ends as a cul-de-sac.

He hopes the realigned section of Galisteo will be ready for paving in a few weeks, which will allow access to the Rail Runner station, he added.

When that is done, Brown said, the next step will be fully reopening Galisteo from Rodeo Road to Zia. And then the Galisteo extension project will begin.

As soon as all the equipment has been delivered, work will begin on making signal improvements, he said, which will be followed by the installation of landscaping along Galisteo.

The addition of a third left-turn lane on eastbound Zia at St. Francis, which should be done by the summer’s end, should keep traffic from backing up so far on Zia, he said.

The second phase of Zia Station will include the construction of about 140 residential units, likely townhouses and lofts that will be spread around the development, Brown said. The project also will include retail space.

The time frame for that is unclear, he said.

“We get asked that a lot,” Brown said. “We have zoning and preliminary development plans in place, but we need to go back to the Planning Commission for final approval for final development plans.

“We’re not even sure what we will tackle next,” he added. “First, we want to make sure everything we have done is working properly.”

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