Santa Fe Drive boasts country's highest concentration of galleries: new art museum wing will only add heat to already hot properties.

• Author: Lewis, David
• Position: Who owns Colorado

Not too long ago Santa Fe Drive was a rough neighborhood near the railroad tracks. Now it boasts the largest concentration of galleries in the United States, 40 in a few blocks, plus numerous architects' offices, photo galleries and shops, arts supplies stores and more. Once a month, 2,000 people gather for the Art District on Santa Fe's First Friday Art Walk.

Santa Fe's unexpected artistic/ownership uprising is transforming not only the core art district of Santa Fe from 7th Avenue to 10th Avenue, but a larger area with developments that include Platte River Art Services at West 3th Avenue and Santa Fe; Breckenridge Brewery on West 4th Avenue and Kalamath Street; the Maravilla condominiums, now under development by Ted Gill on West 9th Avenue and Kalamath; another Gill project at West 9th and Inca Street; the Russian Ark Gallery and innovative Nine10Arts loft and art-studio community, both at 9th and Santa Fe; and La Villa de Barela apartments on 10th and Santa Fe.

NEWSED Community Development Corp. President/CEO Veronica Barela calls Nine10Arts and La Villa de Barela "the two catalyst projects for the northern end of Santa Fe."

La Villa de Barela, 1001 Santa Fe, opened in 2004 with 38 residential condos (now 100 percent occupied), office condos (100 percent occupied), and retail (45 percent occupied), "with a letter of intent from a restaurant for the remaining space," Barela adds. The complex was named for Barela by her staff because few could pronounce its initial moniker, "La Bougainvillea."

Architect/developer Cheryl Spector's 24,000-square-foot Nine10Arts transformed an abandoned 7-Up bottling plant into an arresting stucco-exterior space that looks hip--friendly-hip, not snobby-hip.

Nine10 contains eight artists' lofts and 17 artist studios, many priced affordably. In early September, the Studio 6 Coffee Shop and adjacent open inner courtyard were open for business, and four of eight residential lofts remained available. An exhibition-meeting-party space available for rent also was busy.

Santa Fe Drive's revival began 30-some years ago when NEWSED Community Development Corp. inspired a drive to refurbish storefronts, and add amenities and affordable housing. Its next epochal turning point was Sandy Carson's purchase of 760 Santa Fe and the move of her Sandy Carson Gallery there from LoDo in 2000. The move magnetized other gallery/property owners.

Today, art exhibition seems woven into the scene: Even NEWSED, at 1029 Santa Fe, shows...