Taos’ Kachina Lodge cleaned up as owner seeks buyer

A Taos property at the center of years of community woes is getting a bit of a refresh as it prepares to enter a new chapter.

The Kachina Lodge — a 65-year-old Taos landmark about a mile north of the Taos Plaza — is on the market for new ownership. The roughly 40,000-square-foot property, which sits on more than seven acres, comes with a price tag of $8 million, a Property Shark commercial real estate listing shows.

After hitting the market more than a month ago, the property’s ownership got busy working with the town to clean up the property, igniting excitement within the Taos community, said William Evans, the director of planning, community and economic development for the town of Taos.

The property was once a thriving hospitality destination but fell into vacancy and blight after closing in 2022, the director said.

A “significant” overgrowth of weeds and foliage has since plagued the property, making it the source of the town’s top two code enforcement complaints, Evans said.

“It’s a shame,” Evans said, adding the property’s neglect was “disrespectful” to the town’s tourists, locals and the Taos Pueblo, as the lodge is not far from the pueblo’s main entrance. “It’s a beautiful place; it’s a beautiful location. It’s got history going back 60-some years.”

In addition to an 118-room lodge, the property has housed several functions since its construction in 1960, including a restaurant, nightclub, coffee shop, cocktail lounge, art gallery and game room, according to Evans.

The property changed hands multiple times over the last decade. The most recent owner to control the property was Loge Camps, an outdoor-oriented development company that acquires and restores run-down hotels in nature-centric communities. The company acquired the Kachina Lodge in 2022 under the name of Radify Taos LLC, according to reporting by Taos News.

A restaurant, bar, cafe, gear rental shop, climbing wall, art gallery, music venue, beer garden, meeting space and sauna were among the amenities Loge planned to incorporate into the property, according to its website.

The company was going to invest $15 million into the project, but the plans did not pan out as the company reportedly struggled to keep up with tax payments, according to reporting by Taos News.

With little progress made on developing the property and a $2.5 million lien involved — a legal claim against a property that serves as collateral for a debt and helps ensure a lender gets their money back — CRE Bridge Capital, a Chicago-based investment company, took control of the property earlier this year, Evans said.

Evans was made aware of the company’s decision to sell the property when he met with the company’s managing partner, Daniel Sobelman, in mid-July. Evans tried to convince Sobelman to invest in and restore the property, but the decision was already made, he said.

The move to sell was “disappointing” at the time, Evans said, but it resulted in the company working with the town to get the property’s overgrowth cleaned up, which Evans said meant more to the community than finding out it was up for sale.

“The good people that live here, they were just excited that it was getting cleaned up because that’s the first step,” Evans said. “We have a long way to go, but the town is more pleased now with the way it looks.”

The cleanup has created hope in the community that a larger fix-up and revitalization won’t be too far down the road, Evans said.

CRE Bridge Capital declined to comment. But Evans said the property has garnered interest from multiple investors, one of which expressed interest in partially converting the property into housing and restoring its restaurant and retail uses.

That offer was ultimately declined, and it’s unknown if any offers have been accepted, Evans said.

Evans hopes the property goes to someone who recognizes the potential and history of the property, as well as the role it has played in the town’s culture and tourism.

“We need that. It’s a big deal here,” Evans said. “This is a community of culture, and the buildings are a part of that. We don’t want to lose that.”