Various ideas have been discussed for reusing the Santa Fe shops, including a transportation museum to be called the Wheels Museum, mixed-income housing, a multi-use retail and exposition center, and a state-of-the-art digital film studio. The complex was purchased by the city of Albuquerque in 2007 for $8.5 million. In 2011, a California-based developer was selected to lead the redevelopment of the site, but the contract was canceled in 2018 after little progress during the intervening years. Mayor Tim Keller tore up the contract at a press conference and announced that subsequent redevelopment efforts would be led by the city. The complex was added to the New Mexico State Register of Cultural Properties and the National Register of Historic Places in 2014.