Developer plans ‘boutique hotel’ on Adobe Wall Motel property

A 21-room “boutique hotel” is being planned off Kit Carson Road – on the site of the former Adobe Wall Motel.

Timothy Hoffman, the owner of the property, says the Little Pueblo Inn will maintain Taos’ small-town character and will include a chapel for events, a beer/wine café with a stage for local artists and, eventually, a butterfly conservatory.

“We’re trying to create something that makes sense,” Hoffman said in a phone interview with The Taos News.

Hoffman purchased the 2.5-acre parcel in December 2015, according to records at the Taos County Clerk’s office.

The property included a gallery space and single-story, motor court-style motel rooms.

The buildings on the property sustained some damage, in part from an old cottonwood that fell on one structure.

Pavel Lukes, who had the property listed through his real estate firm and was acting as agent for Hoffman, told the town of Taos planning commission in August 2015 that the Adobe Wall Motel had been closed for about four years.

Lukes spoke at a hearing to give Hoffman a permit to operate a hotel on the property.

An application submitted as part of that permit process stated that Hoffman anticipated renting suites for $199 a night, with 70 percent occupancy.

In January, Hoffman applied for a demolition permit to raze the abandoned structures. Most of the buildings have been leveled, and Hoffman said crews are expected to break ground on the new project in spring 2017. He said he hopes to have the café and hotel open sometime next year.

Hoffman said the new hotel will be built with modern, energy-efficient amenities and a solar array, but will also be built to have a classic, rustic appearance.

“Everything we’re doing, we’re doing to keep with the traditional Taos look,” Hoffman said.

For more than 20 years, Hoffman was a real estate broker and general contractor in Salt Lake City. He said he fell in love with Taos during a vacation a couple of years ago. He’s lived here ever since and said he plans to operate the hotel as part of his retirement.

Hoffman said members of his family were the longtime operators of a 220-room Holiday Inn in Alexandria, Virginia. “Something like this is right up my alley,” Hoffman said of the Little Pueblo project.

He said the former Adobe Wall property was attractive for obvious reasons: “location, location location.”

The shaded property is just a couple of blocks east of Taos Plaza and within walking distance of restaurants and shops downtown. The property was listed in spring 2013 at $1.75 million. The asking price was decreased to just under $1 million in December 2014.

Hoffman said being an owner/operator will give the Little Pueblo Inn the advantage of hands-on service, maintenance and attention to detail.

The addition of more hotel rooms in the center of Taos will be welcome news to the town government, which has been emphasizing the need to improve the town’s hotel stock, especially downtown.

Hoffman agreed that it appears many hotel owners have been lax on maintenance and upkeep, and he said his hotel would improve lodging options for visitors.

He told the planning commission in 2015 he planned to employ as many as 30 people at the hotel.