La Tienda at Eldorado is more than just another commercial space for owners Josh Rigsby, Destiny Allison and Steve Ewers, who bought the business last summer.

From the beginning, they say, the Eldorado community wanted something more than the shopping center the business was originally intended to be.

"Thirty minutes after the transaction (with the bank for the purchase of the property) was completed, Ewers got his first phone call from a party interested in leasing space," Allison recalled in an e-mail. "Since that day, the phone hasn't stopped ringing, and the e-mails have been pouring in."

What used to be an almost empty shopping center known as The Village is now almost half full, with interested people coming by almost every day for a look at what it has to offer.

Among the tenants of the re-energized center are three restaurants, a pub, a used-book store, a recording studio, a consignment shop and a gym.

"We have room for eight to 10 more tenants," Ewers said, adding that some business people interested in leasing space have waited to see how successful the venture would be before signing on.

From the beginning, the partners have said they wanted to create more than a shopping center because they had always wanted to do something that would better the community, Allison said.

"Through conversations with community members and like-minded business owners, the partners soon understood that La Tienda would be that project," she said.

The central vision is of a place where community members interact, a place where local kids could hang out, a place for computer usage (La Tienda has installed WiFi), a park and a cultural center.

To encourage the concept of sustainability and community service they desire, the partners require businesses in La Tienda to put in writing and honor how they will give back to the community they serve.

La Tienda will also support several nonprofit organizations, and offers discounted rents for start-up businesses to help them get established. The first year's rent would be 25 percent below the market rate, the second year 15 percent below and the third year it would rise to the market rate.

"Businesses need support to get established," Rigsby said.

Once the center fills up, it could provide as many as 150 new jobs, Ewers said, and that's a conservative figure.

In the hiring process, La Tienda's partners are sensitive to the relationship with the Agora shopping center, which is right across the road from La Tienda.

"We have no desire that their tenants break leases and come over here," Ewers said. "We won't consider anybody who has a lease over there. We want to maintain a quality business community."

La Tienda is in Santa Fe County and is not required to provide the mandated minimum wage of $9.85 paid in the city of Santa Fe. But the partners do support payment of the wage and will discount rents to all businesses in the center who agree to pay it.

La Tienda is interested in local businesses — no national businesses need apply, the partners said. And that includes a Subway, which had a restaurant in the shopping center under former management and wanted to return, but wasn't allowed to.

The partners are also environmentally conscious and are pursuing LEED certification for the center. They use gray water for irrigating trees and plants on the premises and are encouraging their tenants to use reusable materials.

Rigsby said there is a plan to put solar panels on the roof and generate electricity for the facility.

Gene Tauer, an experienced retailer, has one business, the Copa de Oro restaurant at the Agora shopping center, and now, two more at La Tienda — Gene's Sandwich Shop and Four Sisters, a consignment shop.

"I'm the only crazy one out here," Tauer said, referring to his willingness to operate three businesses at the same time.

Of his new La Tienda businesses, Tauer said, "I've always wanted to see what it was like to work in a sandwich shop." As for the consignment business, he said, "I've always liked estate sales and seeing inside people's homes."

Tauer was emboldened to open the new stores in La Tienda by Steve Ewers, one of his new landlords. Talking to him "is what pushed me along," Tauer said. "He made me want to be a part of the vision and the energy and the motivation. Then I met Destiny and Josh, and that solidified my decision. They made me feel we're all together here."

Steve Cooper and Vicki Teague Cooper are the owners of the Home Planet Cafe, which will offer "comfort with a global spin," Allison said in her blog about La Tienda.

"Our menus will lean toward American country cooking but also offer dishes from other parts of the world," Cooper said.

Mike's Music Exchange, owned by Mike Engeldinger, includes a recording studio, a live performance venue, an instruction center and a musical instrument store. "There are so many musicians in Eldorado, and they don't have a venue. There are also a lot of students and teachers of music. We're trying to connect all these great musicians in Eldorado," he said.

The exchange will test its recording gear at the open house Saturday. Bands and individuals are encouraged to take part free of charge.

BUSINESSES AT LA TIENDA AT ELDORADO

Home Planet Cafe

Mike's Music Exchange

Santa Fe Brewing Co. Tap House

La Plancha de Eldorado

Beyond Borders Books

Four Sisters Consignment Gallery

Gene's Sandwich Shop

The Art Garden

Eldorado Computer Works

The Gym at Eldorado

SpinDoc

Suite 101

SATURDAY GRAND OPENING SCHEDULE

10 a.m. to 2 p.m.

Coffee and breakfast buffet at Home Planet Cafe

Face painting in Suite 101

Farmers Market Holiday Fair

2-3 p.m.

Eldorado Irish Players

3:30 -5:30 p.m.

Visit with Santa Claus in Suite 101

4-8 p.m.

Local authors read from their works at Beyond Borders Books

EX EX Art exhibition opening

Live music at Mike's Music Exchange

Raffle drawing

Tree lighting and Christmas carols at 8 p.m. with hot cider and hot chocolate

Partial list of all-day events

Kids' treasure hunt

Food and beverage samplings at restaurants

Open house workout at The Gym at Eldorado

Free tech support

Cat and husky adoption

Classes at Spin Doc

Teen jam session