Officials behind the Midtown District Project recently met with the city of Santa Fe Economic Development Advisory Committee to give a progress report as the project enters its preliminary stages.

“We have submitted our application for rezoning because we’re rezoning the parcel from a residence to a mixed-use usage community,” Rich Brown, director of Economic and Community Development, told KOB 4.

Brown told the advisory committee that although the projects center around housing, it will include spaces for the arts like the Garson Theater.

“First and foremost, we’re keeping them,” Brown said. “We’re trying to figure out how to create a new 21st-century library. So that’s the part of what happens is the library, the other buildings, legacy buildings. It just means that buildings that are architecturally significant that we’re leaving on the campus, we’re not rebuilding them.”

It could be more than a year before all the paperwork is completed to start construction on any of the new sites, according to KOB 4. The planning committee must provide advice and consent before plans move from the governing body and committee for a hearing.

“We’re excited. We’re moving forward,” Brown said. “There’s a lot of activity, and it’s going be a great place in the center of the city and we’re excited about the next steps that are happening.”