The Nissan dealership on St Michael’s Drive on Friday. The Santa Fe Planning Commission approved Fiesta Nissan/Hyundai’s proposed move to a newly developed site at Cerrillos and Governor Miles roads. Luis Sánchez Saturno/The New Mexican
The Nissan dealership on St Michael’s Drive on Friday. The Santa Fe Planning Commission approved Fiesta Nissan/Hyundai’s proposed move to a newly developed site at Cerrillos and Governor Miles roads. Luis Sánchez Saturno/The New Mexican
Fiesta Nissan and Fiesta Hyundai can apply for a building permit to relocate both auto dealerships from St. Michael’s Drive to Cerrillos Road at Governor Miles Road following the Santa Fe Planning Commission’s approval of a development plan late last week.
Architectural plans for the 11.99-acre project should be complete in June with Fiesta Auto Group owner Jamie Dick starting construction sometime after that, said project architect Wayne Lloyd of Lloyd & Associates in Santa Fe.
A construction start date is not firm, Dick said.
The project needed a stop at the Planning Commission on Thursday night because it’s within 200 feet of the future Ross’s Peak residential subdivision. The commission summarily approved the development plan.
The plan proposes separate Nissan and Hyundai dealerships on the same parcel. A proposed 23,740-square-foot Fiesta Nissan building would be left of the main entry off Cerrillos and the 18,695-square-foot Hyundai building would be to the right.
Dick plans to relocate the two dealerships from St. Michael’s Drive that sit on either side of Espinacitas Street.
“We want to be where the car dealerships are,” Dick said. “This city is growing that way and not on this side of town [St. Michael’s]. We want to be where the shoppers are.”
The move also enables him to update the branding images of both automakers with a new facility rather than renovating the nearly 35- and 40-year-old structures Nissan and Hyundai now occupy.
Dick acquired both dealerships in November 2015.
The Nissan dealership building at 2005 St. Michael’s was built in 1985, according to the Santa Fe County assessor. Nissan and its former brand name Datsun have had a presence at that address since at least 1984, and a car dealership has been at that address since 1974, according to Polk City Directories.
Hyundai has been at 1955 St. Michael’s since about 2001 in a building built in 1975, according to assessor records. Before that, auto dealerships, mostly Mitsubishi, had filled the space since about 1988, and before that a Souders Furniture warehouse was in the building, according to Polk listings.
Dick plans to build the new Nissan dealership on Cerrillos first and break ground on the Hyundai dealership in spring 2020, according to city documents.
Dick said people have already approached him about acquiring the properties the dealerships presently occupy.
“We are open to options,” he said. “We don’t have any plans. The easiest thing would be to sell it to someone else who has better plans than we do.”
