County restarts affordable home project in city

Proposal calls for building 130 apartments on land near Cerrillos and Airport roads

Santa Fe County leaders have revived a push to build 130 affordably priced apartments on the city’s south side, a complex that would mark the county’s first new housing project in decades.

The county bought 6.8 acres off Cerrillos Road, near Airport Road, in 2018 with a plan to build affordable housing.

The land remains vacant, but officials say the multifamily development, called Nueva Acequia, will move forward in the new year.

“We haven’t abandoned this project,” County Commission Chairwoman Anna Hansen said. “Getting it built is a priority.”

Commissioners have asked state lawmakers to allocate $10 million in capital outlay for the project in the Legislature’s upcoming session.

The parcel was identified as the perfect site for an affordable housing development, county Housing Authority Director Jordan Barela said.

It borders the Housing Authority’s administrative offices and the 68-unit Camino de Jacobo Housing Neighborhood, one of three public housing sites managed by the county. The land also sits across the street from the San Isidro Plaza shopping center — meaning it’s within walking distance of several restaurants and stores, an important aspect of affordable living, Hansen said.

She noted an energy-efficient building design will add to the apartments’ affordability for residents.

The county tried to partner with nonprofits on the housing project, but the plans have fallen through. Officials now intend to secure a contract with a development partner to bring the project over the finish line, Hansen said.

In June, the county hired Colorado-based housing consultant Project Moxie for $20,000 to help find an experienced developer for the project. The county then released a request for proposals in November that has generated “quite a bit of interest,” Barela said.

The county could enter into a development agreement by the end of March, he said.

In a best-case scenario, Nueva Acequia could open to tenants in about 2½ years, but it will more likely take about four years, Project Moxie President Jenn Lopez told the Housing Authority board in October.

That’s because the project — estimated to cost over

$40 million, Barela said — hinges on winning competitive federal tax credits from the state worth millions of dollars.

The Low-Income Housing Tax Credit program is the largest housing program in the U.S., Barela said. The IRS allocates tax credits to each state based on population, and the New Mexico Mortgage Finance Authority awards the credits to projects in the state each year.

Developers sell the lucrative tax credits to investors, which significantly reduces the debt they must take on to build housing and thus enables them to offer rental units at below-market rates.

Under the program, developers generally are required to maintain below-market rates for 30 years.

Nueva Acequia likely would be aimed at families earning 60% to 80% of the area median income, Lopez said.

In Santa Fe County, 80% of the median income is about $47,800 annually for one person, $54,600 for a two-person household and $68,250 for a family of four.

County residents with incomes below that threshold clearly need more housing options, Barela said. The Housing Authority has “thousands” of people on waiting lists for its subsidized rental programs, especially heads of single-income households and people with disabilities, he added.

“Most of our tenants … within public housing are people living on their own on $650 a month, and short of our program, where else can they go?” he said. “For people on restricted income, there really is no other housing option that’s stable outside of a subsidized rental.”

We haven’t abandoned this project. Getting it built is a priority.”

County Commission Chairwoman Anna Hansen