Santa Fe’s workers need places to live

Santa Fe Brewing Co. is blessed to have seen steady growth year over year. In fact, our sales are up by 300 percent since 2016. The key to our growth? Both our amazing team and loyal customers. But as we look to the future, without more affordable housing options, our growth will stall, and so will other local businesses.

Buying a home in Santa Fe has become increasingly difficult when the median price is pushing $800,000, according to the Santa Fe Realtors Association. Rentals are scarce, and the average monthly rent for a one-bedroom apartment is now $1,600.

We’ve recently added some senior managers for career positions. They want to live in Santa Fe, which was part of the attraction for them joining our team. Several of these new hires have moved to Albuquerque and commute daily because housing here is so difficult. The No. 1 reason prospective employees have turned us down is the lack of affordable places to live. They have chosen careers in other cities because Santa Fe has become such an unaffordable place.

I’ve been made aware of efforts by many developers to build affordable multi-family housing both in the city of Santa Fe and Santa Fe County. I encourage our elected officials to look seriously at what’s being offered.

What makes Santa Fe the City Different is many things. But the one that is most important to me is our diversity. With escalating housing prices, Santa Fe is on track to become a city only for the wealthy. And that will make us the City Different in all the wrong ways.

We want to diversify our economy and grow more local businesses. Owning and running a business is challenging enough. Without places for our staff members to live and grow their families, it will become impossible.

Now is the time to act to make a lasting difference for today and tomorrow’s workforce.

Brian Lock is owner of Santa Fe Brewing Co.