It took a little longer than we had hoped to iron out all the details, but we were glad to see the city come to terms last week with the private group Las Cruces Community Partners to build a downtown plaza. 

Members of the City Council approved a $5.397 million agreement with Community Partners, which is headed by local developer Bob Pofahl, for the plaza.  That will cover the costs to purchase 1.362 acres of land now being used for the Bank of the West drive-up facility at the northeast corner of Griggs Avenue and Main Street, and to build the plaza. 

Las Cruces Community Partners will be responsible for designing and building the civic plaza.  City Manager Robert Garza said payments to that group will be made in phases, as work on the plaza progresses, and the final price tag can not exceed $5,397 million.  The design is expected to include benches, grassed areas, trees, a covered outdoor stage, and some type of water fountain or water feature. 

Garza explained previously that there are advantages to having a public-private partnership for projects such as these.  For example, the private group can contract for services without going through the more burdensome request for proposals process required in the city,

Funding for the plaza will come from the Tax Increment Development District, an innovative initiative passed several years ago by the state Legislature to allow targeted development in specific areas.  It allows local governments to take all taxes levied within the district — including taxes that would normally go to the state — and keep them in the district.  For Las Cruces, the TIDD provided the perfect vehicle to bolster downtown redevelopment efforts that had been lagging for years. 

The city considered several proposals for its first project with the TIDD money, but settled on the plaza following a series of community meetings when residents made it clear a plaza was the top priority. 

We agree with that decision. 

While much needs to be done downtown, the first step should be a place to come together as a community, and where multiple events can be held.  We have no doubt that once such a gathering place is built, it will attract further development and revitalization around the plaza. 

“The city has never really had that community gathering place,” Garza said. “ This is a very exciting time, a very defining point for our downtown.” 

It is expected to take about 18 months to complete work on the plaza.  That seems like a long time off until you consider the city has been working on this for some 25 years. 

We eagerly look forward to the day that our plaza becomes the heart of our downtown, just as plazas in Mesilla, Santa Fe and elsewhere are now. 

LAS CRUCES >> Fifteen years after city officials began the first discussions and negotiations for a civic plaza in downtown Las Cruces, the venue took a major step toward becoming a reality. 

On Tuesday, Las Cruces’ Tax Increment Development District board of commissioners — which consists of the seven-member Las Cruces City Council — met in closed session, then publicly voted to unanimously approve a $5.397 million purchase of 1.362 acres of property at the northeast corner of Griggs Avenue and Main Street.  It will become a civic plaza by March 2016. 

“Do it!  This ‘city’ needs to start looking like a city,” said Mark D. Nevarez, in a post on the Las Cruces Sun-News’ Facebook page. 

The money to purchase the property, which has been a drive-up motor bank facility for more than 25 years, will come from taxes collected through the city’s downtown TIDD.  The land will be purchased from developer Las Cruces Community Partners, a nonprofit organization of business owners formed to serve downtown stakeholders, building owners and businesses headed by Bob Pofhal. 

Development of a civic plaza has been a focal point of downtown revitalization, from city leaders and downtown business owners, for more than 10 years. 

“Ultimately, the city is going to move forward with a key element of downtown revitalization and we’re excited about that,” said Andy Hume, senior planner for the city of Las Cruces. 

William “Rusty” Babington, an assistant city attorney, said the contract between the city and Las Cruces Community Partners will be a performance-based agreement. 

“At the end of 18 months we (the city) are going to have a turnkey plaza,” Babington said. 

City Manager Robert Garza said Las Cruces Community Partners will be responsible for designing and building the civic plaza and will be paid in phases as it meets benchmarks in the construction of the plaza.  The plaza will be an outdoor gathering place for the community.  Anticipated conceptual plans include benches, grassed areas, trees, a covered outdoor stage, and some type of water fountain or water feature. 

“It’s very exciting to see it coming to fruition,” said Ceil Levatino, TIDD board commissioner. 

Perhaps Councilor Greg Smith best summed up many of the emotions Las Crucens have felt about a civic plaza. 

“It has been a dream, (and) a frustration,” said Smith, referring to the ups and downs, and time it has taken for a civic plaza to be developed. “ But this community will definitely benefit from it.  It will be an asset, it will be a destination for the city.” 

Mayor and TIDD board chairman, Ken Miyagishima, and Garza recognized the years of efforts by numerous people to reach this milestone. 

“This is a defining moment of downtown revitalization,” Miyagishima said. “ It’s going to be fun, it’s going to be exciting.” 

It was Garza, who was then public works director for the city of Las Cruces, who began negotiations with Bank of the West in 1999 to purchase the property that will become the city’s civic plaza.  The negotiations took several years, and stalled when the then City Council could not agree on a purchase price for the property. 

However, Garza said he felt quiet satisfaction Tuesday when the TIDD board finally agreed on a purchase price. 

“I’m excited about it,” Garza said. “ I expect that as I look back on it, the negotiations I was involved in will likely be one of those things that’s going to be a substantial part of my career with the city.  The city has never really had that community gathering place.  This is a very exciting time, a very defining point for our downtown.” 

National renowned real estate research firm, John Burns Real Estate Consulting, has ranked the top 25 housing amenities by generation based on feedback from more than 20,000 home shoppers.  This research confirms LCCP’s philosophy that one key to reviving downtown Las Cruces is to bring top amenities and attractions. 

LAS CRUCES — Las Cruces businessman Bob Pofahl has teamed up with the owner of the former Doña Ana County Courthouse in an effort to remake the downtown landmark into a five-star hotel, conference center and complex with restaurants and boutiques, he said. 
“The vision for the hotel is to create something similar to La Fonda or La Posada in Santa Fe or the Hotel Parq Central in Albuquerque, where the building’s history is preserved during the redevelopment progress,” said Pofahl of his plans with owner John Hoffman of El Paso. 

Pofahl, managing partner for Las Cruces Community Partners LLC, is no stranger to re-imagining large projects.  He also is working with investors to redevelop the former Las Cruces Country Club property into a medical campus complete with a hospital and mixed use development. 

Pofahl said the $20 million to $30 million courthouse project could be a major boost to downtown Las Cruces revitalization efforts. 

Empty since 2008, when county government moved into new facilities on Motel Boulevard, the courthouse retains its designation on the state’s historic registry.  Construction of the building began in 1936, and it served as an active public building for 70 years. 

In 2008, Hoffman bought the building at 251 W. Amador Ave.,  which included the former Doña Ana County jail, for $1.5 million.  There were plans to renovate the building into apartments and office space.  While some demolition and restoration work was done, the building has never been fully restored. 

Pofahl said Hoffman has “done environmental mitigation on the entire structure, as well as adding a new roof.”  Pofahl’s investment group plans to hire architect Stefanos Polyzoides of Moule & Polyzoides of Pasadena, Calif., to supervise the project, he said. “ And LCCP is in discussions with LaTour Signature Hotels by ResortCom International of San Diego, Calif., as the operator for the hotel and conference center.” 

He said talks with investors are ongoing “as we finalize marketing plans, complete studies and continue with preliminary designs and planning. 
Edie Henry, of Las Cruces looks over the large chandliers resting on the floor of the Doña Ana County Courthouse on Saturday during the 2014 Casas de Antaño (Houses of Yesteryear) Tour.  During the tour, plans were announced to renovate the courthouse into a business complex with a hotel and conference center. ( Robin Zielinski – Sun-News)
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Future plan

Pofahl and Hoffman first made their announcement public Saturday during a tour of historic properties hosted by the Mesilla Valley Preservation Inc.

“Plans call for the restoration of the existing courthouse as a conference center with several restaurants.  The addition of approximately 70 rooms on the west side of building will maintain the current architecture of the courthouse,” according to Pofahl and Hoffman. “ We’re beginning a process that could take two or three years.  When you’re renovating a building like this, you have only one chance to get it right,” said Pofahl. 

“Public spaces will feature artifacts and exhibits of local history.  Rooms and public spaces will also feature photos, art and artifacts about the history of the building, and we would like the name to reflect the history, something like the Courthouse Hotel and Conference Center.” 

Reaction

“A downtown hotel is definitely needed,” said city councilor Miguel Silva, whose district includes the former courthouse. “ It would be nice if some longer-term housing could be incorporated, too.  I’ve heard about some of the plans, but not about the addition of 70 rooms.  I thought of La Fonda in Santa Fe and a hotel in Taos when I first heard about (renovation) plans.  The ideas have potential.” 

“It’s extremely important for us to have a hotel downtown,” said Carrie La Tour, executive director of Downtown Las Cruces Partnership, a nonprofit program not connected to Pofahl’s investment group. 

“We’re very happy that this is starting to take shape,” she said. 

“It was always in the downtown plan to have a hotel or a boutique hotel,” said Heather Pollard, president of the nonprofit Amador Foundation, which is restoring the old Amador Hotel, just across the street from the courthouse, as a museum and a multiuse community gathering site. “ To have it in a historic building is just a plus because it will be an economic driver for tourism.  And if we can partner with the Amador to have dining and a bar and cocktails at the Amador, it’s a win-win for the entire downtown revitalization,” Pollard said. 

Plans for the proposed 70-room addition should be ready to submit for approval soon, Pofahl said. 

he Pueblo Revival courthouse was built with $150,000 in municipal bonds and $100,000 from a Depression-era Works Progress Administration grant.  The 37,000-square-foot building was dedicated on Feb. 22, 1938, and was designed by architect Percy McGhee, a protégé of renowned architect Henry Trost.  McGhee was also the architect for the first Thomas Branigan Library, now the Branigan Cultural Center. 

Throughout its history, the building has been lauded for its pleasing design, according to Las Cruces historian Christopher Schurtz, who wrote in the 2014 Casas de Antaña tour guide that famed war correspondent Ernie Pyle was a fan of the courthouse. 

“Pyle was critical of ugly government buildings, but wrote the Doña Ana County Courthouse had ‘thrown off the old square monstrosity of a courthouse and built something that didn’t look like a courthouse … you might take it for a fine private mansion.’  In its early days, especially, when the old acequia wound visibly across the property, the site was noted for its fine landscaping, and its modest, manicured law, trees and surrounding shrubbery,” Schurtz wrote. 

By S. Derrickson Moore
Originally published in the Las Cruces Sun News

LAS CRUCES >> Hundreds turned out to see some of the Mesilla Valley’s most beloved old buildings during Saturday’s 2014 Casas de Antaño (Houses of Yesteryear) Tour

“Preservation in Progress” was the theme of the fourth annual Mesilla Valley Preservation, Inc. tour, and sites ranged from a nearly restored church to the crumbling adobe walls of a mid-19th century home and massive renovation projects just entering the planning stage. 

For Martin Amador Campbell, the tour was a trip down a vivid memory lane. 

“I was born in the Amador Hotel.  My great grandfather had a general store right over there across the street, and I used to visit in this house when I was a child,” he said, gesturing at the scaffolding surrounding the Nestor Armijo house.  150 E. Lohman Ave.  The building, currently owned by the Las Cruces Chamber of Commerce, dates to 1867, and offered visitors a chance to see large-scale, adobe stabilization work in progress. 

“My family owned the Amador Hotel, and I’d like to see it used more for public gatherings and meetings again.  I’m very happy to see the preservation efforts here,” Campbell said. 

Mary Smith, of Phoenix, Ariz., who greeted visitors at the clubhouse of the old Las Cruces Country Club, 2700 N. Main St., also has some family ties to sites on this year’s tour. 

“My great uncle was Henry Trost and this was a Trost & Trost building.  We’ve been looking at the family history and identifying over 600 Trost & Trost buildings in Arizona, New Mexico and east Texas.  The firm did many styles in addition to Pueblo Revival: Greek Revival, Classical Revival, Mission, Prairie and more.  It’s possible we’ll discover more Trost & Trost buildings in this area,” Smith said. 

“The tour features buildings newly discovered and proven by MVP to have been designed by Trost & Trost, including the Las Cruces County Club clubhouse in Las Cruces.  The Mesilla Park School (now the Papen Center), 304 Bell Ave.,  on this year’s tour, is also a Trost & Trost building.  They were premier architects of the Southwest,” said MVP’s founder Eric Liefeld. 

Visitors saw a lot of potential in the old Doña Ana County Courthouse, 251 W. Amador Ave.,  as they toured a large, recently revealed room that was an original courtroom that had been filled in for other uses by the county.  Elegantly painted beams and intricate carved woodwork attracted admirers. 

“I’d love to see this turned into apartments.  It would be the kind of place I’d like to be, if I could afford to live here,” said Donny Prosise, of Las Cruces. 

“It could be a beautiful bed and breakfast, or maybe a complex with offices and restaurants and boutiques on the first floor,” said Trudy Cooper, of Las Cruces. 

“Our goal is to restore it as a hotel.  We think this is the most iconic historical building in Southern New Mexico and we hope it ignites everybody to see what you can do with historic buildings,” said Bob Pofahl, a developer who is working with the building’s owner, John Hoffman, to restore and repurpose the old Doña Ana County Courthouse. 

“We’re beginning a planning process that could take two or three years.  When you’re renovating a building like this, you have only one chance to get it right,” Pofahl said. 

Volunteers from the nonprofit Amador Foundation showed everything from beautifully restored, fully-furnished rooms to areas gutted to bare bones of old wooden wall frames and original adobe bricks.  The goal is to give the old hotel and former government building a new life as a museum and community gathering place. 

After seeing buildings in several stages of renovation, Linda Jacobs, of Las Cruces, said it was a pleasure to visit the nearly-completed Phillips Chapel CME Church at 638 N. Tornillo St.

“We’re waiting for the creation of doors with nearly 100-year-old wood from Yukon Territory,” said Beth O’Leary, who has worked on recent renovation projects for the church. 

Clarence Fielder, church elder and a grandchild of the church’s founders, was on hand to talk about the oldest existing African American Church in New Mexico, now on the New Mexico State Register of Cultural Properties and the National Register of Historic Places. 

He’s pleased that the site has continued to be a functioning church since 2003, when Fielder, an NMSU emeritus history professor, began working with Terry Moody, then an NMSU graduate student, on restoration projects. 

“Services have continued throughout the process, even if it was just the minister and one parishioner,” Fielder said. 

Organizers of the event estimated that more than 500 showed up for the tour. 

Tour proceeds benefit programs of the nonprofit Mesilla Valley Preservation, Inc., which is “dedicated to preserving the architectural legacy of the Mesilla Valley in Southern New Mexico and to preserving the future of our past,” according to the group’s mission statement.” 

Through workshops, tours, a website and a variety of educational and training efforts, the group focuses on “preservation techniques, traditional construction technology, local architectural history and the history and culture of southern New Mexico,” Liefeld said. 

For information about the group and its tours, seminars and projects, visit mvpres.org.