As he looked for the best place to locate New Mexico's next state government complex, General Services Department Secretary Art Jaramillo had a myriad of choices to make.

There were sites around the city to choose from, pitches from developers to listen to, countless meetings to attend. He had to consider price, utilities, location.

In the end, Jaramillo says his endorsement of the idea to locate the complex in the Las Soleras development on the southern edge of town is simple.

"You can begin to see this was not a hard choice to make and has the greatest aspects to it that tie into what it is we are achieving," Jaramillo said in a recent interview, where a conference table in his office teemed with project maps, timelines and other documents related to the project.

The area will have a commuter rail stop, if the federal government approves, and connections to other public transit. It has space for two state government buildings divided by a plaza and walkway. It's got room for a parking structure if the state decides it needs one. And, Jaramillo said, the state also could put some land it already owns toward the purchase price.

Although Las Soleras is not an official state choice — the Capitol Building Planning Commission, the attorney general and the state Board of Finance all still have to sign off on a location and related contracts — Jaramillo said he's ready to proceed with putting the complex in the 550-acre mixed-used development should state officials agree.

Through hours of legwork, Jaramillo came to agree with the Architectural Research Consultants, who in 2007 recommended the site, noting its potential for mixed-use development, its sufficient roadway capacity, its pedestrian walkability and its ability to "promote a compact urban form."

A tentative contract with the developers of Las Soleras calls for the state to spend no more than $6 million on 20 acres at the site, and pay no more than $20 a square foot. If the land at Las Soleras is appraised at more than $20 a square foot, the state would trade land it owns in the Valdes Business Park and the Galisteo Business Park to make up the difference.

It has 8.11 acres available in the Valdes park and 4.45 acres available for trade in the Galisteo park.

If the $6 million and the land still doesn't equal the appraised price, the developers would give the rest to the state.

All of the parcels involved have yet to be appraised, but that work is expected to be complete by the time the Capitol Buildings Planning Commission, a key stop for the development, meets Aug. 19.

The developers are John Mahoney and Skip Skarsgard.

Their attorney, Karl Sommer, said the group is hopeful the state will choose the Las Soleras location and is anxious to get the project under way.

"The sooner things get done, the better for everybody including the state," Sommer said, in part because construction costs are low right now.

"The overall goal for the development, aside from being successful financially, is to generate a transit-oriented development that provides large-scale, long-term employment opportunities in Santa Fe. That's what we'd like to see, with a mix of housing so that the services are close by, the employment is close and it's all connected by transit."

The entire site is south of the Nava Adé housing development off Governor Miles Road and is generally bounded by Interstate 25 to the south, Cerrillos Road to the west and Richards Avenue to the east.

Other options

While Jaramillo, the state's buildings boss, likes the Las Soleras development, developers of other sites say they can offer the state just as good a deal or better.

Alan Hoffman, founder of the Oshara Village development, said he's optimistic the commission will choose his site near the Santa Fe Community College for the project.

"We're still hopeful, to tell you the truth," he said. "They came out and visited us."

The area could be served by public transportation including the bus line on Richards Avenue, he said.

Hoffman said he wants the same opportunity as the Las Soleras developers.

"In order for there to be a level playing field, we'd like to get an opportunity for negotiation."

Phil Sena, a developer with the TurnKey Company/New Mexico Development Plus, said he also has an excellent site. He's offering free water to buyers and owner financing.

"We have a development almost made in heaven," he said of a development called the Pavilion, off N.M. 599 near the airport.

Sena said the developer would pay $6.5 million to add a new interchange onto the bypass to bring traffic into the area and help alleviate congestion on Airport Road. He also said his location is close to where the Rail Runner stops at the bypass.

"We don't think there's anyone that can offer and provide a location such as this in the city or the state or the nation," he said.

Jaramillo said he took his time considering the pros and cons of all the sites.

"I looked at everything very carefully," he said.

The supercomplex

The state has been thinking about the project for more than a decade, Jaramillo said. In 2004, the Legislature set aside $1.8 million to start planning and designing a Human Services Department complex.

The complex, which likely would be built in two phases, would house at least four agencies, including the Human Services Department, which right now has offices in six locations in Santa Fe. Other agencies that would move to a new site include the departments of Health, Children, Youth and Families and Aging and Long-Term Services.

The Legislature this year approved a measure that allocates up to $80 million for the project, including $2 million for land. Another $4 million for land also was authorized in a separate measure.

The New Mexico Finance Authority could issue up to $80 million in lease-purchase revenue bonds to finance the project.

From the time the state closes on the project, it could take four to five years before the multiphase complex is complete.

The move toward a supercomplex is part of a plan that calls for state government to save money by reducing the number of leases it has and owning more buildings. The Human Services Department alone spends more than $4 million a year in leases. The General Services Department estimates the state could save hundreds of millions of dollars in lease expenses with the supercomplex project.

Having so many buildings in so many places is also an efficiency headache for employees, said HSD Secretary Pam Hyde.

Because the agency right now operates out of so many different buildings around Santa Fe, someone is always on the road in her department, including Hyde, who at times seems to operate out of her car as she juggles meetings in different locations.

"I found myself running back and forth constantly," she said. I literally had two computers, a computer in my car ... files in two different places," she said. "It's highly inefficient."

The agency even has people running documents that need different signatures back and forth between offices. If everyone were in the same building, Hyde said, getting signatures would take just minutes.

The leaders of the so-called human services agencies for years have been planning how to best consolidate their offices.

Together, they asked questions, including whether various departments could share just one information technology office, a common conference space, a common law library.

The answer was yes — if they could find the space.

When the supercomplex is finished, the ensuing shuffle of state government offices could help alleviate crowding in the Bataan Building and the Capitol, a study done for the Capitol Buildings Planning Commission found.

That commission in August is expected to make a decision on the site.

At least one member says he likes the Las Soleras location, but not the price.

"If the state's going to go expand that far out, we've got to be dealt a cheaper hand," said Senate Minority Leader Stuart Ingle, R-Portales. "For the state to basically start the development, I think we need to be given a heck of a deal."

Ingle said he thinks $20 a square foot is "way too expensive," as is $10 a square foot.

If the state can't get a better price, Ingle said he'd prefer to locate the building near the state penitentiary, on land it already owns.

Contact Kate Nash at 986-3036 or knash@sfnewmexican.com. Read her blog at www.greenchilechatter.com.

The state considered 12 sites for the new state government 'supercomplex.' They are:

State-owned

• a 9.85-acre site in the South Capitol complex.
• 11.8 acres in the Valdes Business Park
• a 20-acre area owned by the Department of Transportation on N.M. 599
• 63 acres near the state penitentiary
• 26.5 acres in the West Capitol complex
• tracts on the College of Santa Fe campus

Privately owned

• the 550-acre Las Soleras development
• the 27-acre Oshara Business Park
• a 69-acre tract on Rabbit Road
• 20 acres at the old pumice plant on St. Francis Drive
• a 261-acre tract near the National Guard complex
• the Pavilion development near N.M. 599