'Just killing our business'

Store owners complain as road construction lingers

Bob Quick | The New Mexican

3/11/2008 - 3/11/08

A road construction project that started last December and is now not expected to finish until mid-April is hurting small retail businesses in the Guadalupe district.

Workers have torn up Guadalupe Street, slowing traffic to a crawl in both directions, and on some days side streets, including Montezuma Avenue, have been completely closed. That's forcing drivers to make huge detours to reach stores in Sanbusco Market Center and elsewhere in the area.

As a result, retail sales have dropped.

"It has affected business greatly," said Kris Legatski, owner of Allure, a lingerie store. "Now that Montezuma has closed, people have had a hard time getting into the store."

The work "is just killing our business," Legatski said. "I can give you a good example" of businesses that have closed because of construction in downtown Santa Fe. "Look at the number of stores on Lincoln Avenue that have closed because of the museum construction."

These include Ann Taylor, Mati Jewelers, SilverThreads and Clay Angel, she said.

Another problem with the Guadalupe Street renovation is that the city has failed to communicate much with merchants, Legatski said. "We never received any information from the city."

Recently, however, a city employee did visit the area with information about the project, she added.

In Sanbusco Market Center, merchants "are really upset," said property manager Karen Mondragon. "They started right before Christmas, which caused people a lot of distress."

Despite the problems, Sanbusco Market Center hasn't lost any tenants, Mondragon said. In fact, only one small retail space previously occupied by the Science Toy Magic store is available, she said.

At the Zia Diner, the construction work "has definitely slowed our business," said owner Beth Draiscol. "There's no question we were down on the same days from last year."

Draiscol, like other business owners, said there's more of a problem with the city's failure to communicate with businesses than the actual road work.

"There was no letter ahead of time informing us" this was going to happen, she said. "It's been three months now, and all of this is wearing thin."

Overall, "I wouldn't say our business has been dismal," Draiscol said. "People still find us, but the more casual visitor is not going to fight to get into our parking lot."

Peter Manzanares, the project manager for the city of Santa Fe, said Guadalupe Street from Agua Fría Street to Montezuma Avenue was supposed to have been paved last Friday and Monday.

"But the snow pushed it back a week," Manzanares said "The weather has killed our schedule."

The project is intended to make it easier for pedestrians, creating medians in the street and narrowing the street in other areas. There also will be a new stoplight at West Manhattan Avenue and Guadalupe Street.

Manzanares expects the work to be more or less done by the middle of April.

Until that happens, it is still going to be a problem for such businesses as Casa Nova, which sells art from South Africa and other items. The store is off Guadalupe Street, in the Santa Fe Railyard.

"Today, I attempted to go to the Zia Diner and had to go around two blocks looking for parking," said store manager Janiece Jonsin. "I couldn't get onto Montezuma, and I ended up parking at Sanbusco."

On top of those problems, "today half of our parking lot is filled with trucks, and recently Jonsin showed up to work to find a Port-A-Potty blocking the entrance to her store."

To call the situation aggravating, "that's putting it mildly," she said. "It's just unbelievable."

Contact Bob Quick at 986-3011 or bobquick@sfnewmexican.com