New high-end apartments on south side will add 80 units

Fresh off opening its first 234-unit development in Santa Fe, developer Tekin & Associates is building some more.

The Frisco, Texas-based Tekin last year opened the Cielo Luxury Living apartments next to the Fashion Outlets of Santa Fe. Now, Tekin plans an additional 80 units at the east end of the project that it is calling Cielo Village.

Unlike the current Cielo complex, which features nine three-story apartment buildings, Cielo Village will have a mix of one-, two- and three-story structures among its four buildings. Nine units will be carriage units, with a garage on ground level and living unit above.

Cielo Village was not part of the original plan submitted in 2019.

“It got added on” in early 2021, said Mark Tekin, president of Tekin & Associates. “It was land that abutted us but had no better use. We bought it.”

Tekin bought 11.3 acres for the original development. Cielo Village will sit on the 3.49 acres acquired last year.

With 314 units, the two Cielos would be the second-largest apartment complex in Santa Fe behind the 355-unit Madera apartments under construction on South Meadows Road. The Vizcaya properties on Sawmill Road have 468 combined units but were built in three phases over a 36-year span and are on two sides of the street.

Construction is expected to start on the 80 units at Cielo Village in April, with 47 one-bedroom units, nine two-bedroom units and 24 three-bedroom units. The first tenants are expected in June 2024.

Cielo Luxury Living has 111 one-bedroom units with 782 square feet renting for $1,809 per month; 114 two-bedroom units ranging from 1,096 to 1,140 square feet with rents at $2,099 to $2,813; and nine three-bedroom units measuring 1,259 square feet with rents at about $2,600 per month. Cielo Village will be similarly priced.

“Those prices could fluctuate 3% to 6% over the next six months,” Tekin said. “They could well go down.”

Occupancy rate at Cielo Luxury Living is 96% to 97% with about 10 openings expected in the coming weeks, said Britt Ekholm, director of asset management at Tekin & Associates.

Like Cielo Luxury Living, Cielo Village units will have quartz counters, stainless steel appliances, wood-style plank flooring, open-concept floor plans, washing machines and dryers, pantries and balconies.

“This is more what you find in a single-family home,” Ekholm said.

Tekin & Associates in March expects to finish a 2,200-square-foot, free-standing fitness center at Cielo Luxury Living. Tekin removed one residential building from the plan to make room for the fitness center.

“We wanted to make sure we had amenities,” Tekin said.

The first units at Cielo Luxury Living opened in September 2021, with all units opened by November 2022.

All eight of Tekin & Associates’ apartment projects so far are in New Mexico or Northern California, but Tekin plans to develop in Texas and Florida.

“I spent my first 30 years in Albuquerque,” Tekin said. “Before I left Albuquerque, I was working in Northern California. Texas is incredibly competitive right now. Texas is our key expansion market.”

Tekin & Associates remains interested in Santa Fe.

“If a better opportunity presents itself, we want to definitely jump at it,” Ekholm said.