The Scoop on Santa Fe: A One-on-One with Santa Fe’s Commercial Real Estate Division

For nearly two decades, the Santa Fe team, lead by Managing Member, Carlos Garcia has been actively involved with the development, leasing, buying, and selling of commercial real estate. Together, with your goals always at the forefront, they work continuously aiding local businesses to organize and develop the perfect conditions for their business. With unique insights into the local market, we sat down with Advisors, Carlos Garcia, and Joel Cumplido, to get an inside scoop on what is happening in Santa Fe. Santa Fe, New Mexico is known as “The City Different” and this is reflected through the culture, people, landscape and community.  The city has been a popular draw for artists, small businesses, tourists and retirees for many years and as of lately, there has been strong growth in the film industry, high technology and the interactive arts.  All of these elements make Santa Fe an ideal location for doing business in a stable and vibrant economic environment.  Santa Fe is a unique market that merits a unique approach and no one understands this better than our hometown advisory team. Specializing in commercial real estate for Santa Fe and Northern New Mexico, our advisors are well versed in local market knowledge.  To get an inside scoop on what is happening in Santa Fe we sat down with Managing Partner, Carlos Garcia and Advisor, Joel Cumplido to learn more about “The City Different”.  New Mexico’s housing market is booming (even as national home sales activity continue to be affected by affordability and interest rate issues).  Can you speak to the housing development climate in the Santa Fe metro area and what development projects or specific areas support these trends? Santa Fe is no exception to the housing market boom being experienced by other markets.  There is also high demand in single-family homes with prices in the $350,000 - $425,000 price range.  It is not common to hear residential brokers comment on the fact that there is just not enough inventory for the demand they are experiencing.  The medical and medicinal sectors are showing a consistent rise in leasing and development throughout the state. What impacts do these sectors have on the Santa Fe market? Presbyterian Medical Center Master Plan in Santa Fe comes to mind immediately.  It is part of a planned 40-acre phased construction project comprised of 500,000 SF of acute care hospital and outpatient clinic space. Construction was completed in November 2018. Phase 1 consisted of 345,000 SF including 72 inpatient beds, full diagnostic and treatment area, a complete surgical center, and approximately 100,000 SF devoted to outpatient clinic space.  It will have a staff of over 350 when completed.  Projects like these have a direct impact on a community by bringing jobs and services.  Santa Fe’s a city of unique retail boutiques, galleries, and dining.  As commercial real estate development expands to new retail corridors, do you see that classic Santa Fe “plaza” experience being carried out in other areas of the city? Santa Fe Plaza will continue to have its old world charm which will continue to attract world travelers for years to come.  As of late a new commercial corridor has been developed to the south of the city.  This new corridor provides needed services to local residents and provides development opportunities for different markets. There has been virtually no easing of Santa Fe’s tight multifamily real estate market in the past few years.  Santa Fe is historically known as one of the country’s most crowded markets for multifamily rentals.  Can you speak to the multifamily developments happening in the city and metro area?  Also, what does that mean for services and retail opportunities in the city It is estimated that Santa Fe has a shortage of approximately 5,000 multi-family units.  We only have approximately 1,800 units in the pipeline which mean that even after we deliver the units currently approved and planned on being built Santa Fe will continue to experience a shortage in Apartment Style Living Units.  We cannot talk about Santa Fe without bringing up Meow Wolf.  Their start-up success story has so many layers but perhaps the one layer that connects to our industry was their start-up site for their flagship location. Do you see Santa Fe becoming an incubator for startups and experiential entertainment and how does that relate to commercial real estate development? Meow Wolf has been a great success for Santa Fe’s art market. Attracting visitors from all over the world for their Interactive Arts Exhibit.  After remodeling the Santa Fe bowling alley, Meow Wolf expanded its manufacturing operations to an approximate 55,000 SF facility at Valdez Business Park and plans are underway to build a 4 story 72,000 sf four-story corporate headquarters in their 4-acre campus.  The Meow Wolf experience is expanding to other parts of the country, with plans underway for Denver, Co., Washington, DC and Las Vegas, NV.  With all this economic development being created by Meow Wolf we are sure to create synergy to other segments of the local economy as support industries move in to assist in the arts market. Meet Carlos and Joel: Carlos Garcia joined NAI Maestas and Ward in 2011. His 20+ years of experience in development, leasing, buying, and selling of commercial real estate. Carlos' experience as an owner and manager of two thriving Santa Fe businesses has given me unique insights into the local market that help his clients achieve maximum success. The relationships he's built throughout his career and continue to develop today have also been invaluable resources in each transaction. Joel joined NAI Maestas & Ward in October 2018 after working for 3 years administrating Amigo Fiel, a non-profit after school and community outreach program. Using the knowledge, experience, and relationships gained from his obtaining a degree in Industrial Engineering, Joel has a sharp attention to detail. He's passionate about helping people organize and develop the perfect conditions for their business. Joel's main focus in any project is to calculate the best way to get from point A to B, and how to make everything in-between as smooth and enjoyable for the client. To learn more about our Santa Fe team watch our Advisory Team Video here