Problems with Ochenta development bring focus to lack of affordable housing
The newest affordable housing development on Herdner Road – known as the Ochenta Apartments – is already full, and the building isn’t finished yet. The development, which began in 2019, was a boon for the town’s affordable housing plan, which projected in June 2020 that at least 298 more Low Income Housing Tax Credit (LIHTC) units were needed in order to address just a part of the housing crisis. The Ochenta Apartments add an additional 72 LIHTC apartments to the town.
However, as the town and developer Steve Crozier push to get housing to those who need it, some tenants say they have been left with unfinished or inadequate apartments, and others say they had a difficult time with the application process. Melissa Babcock, CEO of Tierra Realty – the company behind the Ochenta development – said if there are any problems, it is because they can’t build fast enough to keep up with demand.
Unfinished apartments
A woman who wishes to remain anonymous due to perceived potential backlash from Tierra Realty, said when she moved in she quickly noticed several things missing. “Right off the bat when I started to look around I noticed I didn’t have mirrors, I didn’t have shelving in my closets, I didn’t have racks to hang my clothes,” she said. The
woman was also told she would be able to move in in November, but that date was later pushed to Dec. 1, – luckily she was able to work out an agreement with her landlord at the time. Babcock countered that “every single person is told there is not an exact [move in] date.”
This makes the decision to move in a bit of a gamble. The woman explained she had made a $600 dollar deposit, so it was “either move in or lose my deposit,” she said. She decided to move in with the apartment as it was.
Another woman, who wishes to remain anonymous for the same reasons, said that for the first 10 days of living in her apartment she didn’t have a toilet. She
also said that her heat was working improperly, and said if she turned it down “it blows cold air for three hours.” These were just a few of her complaints. “They shouldn’t have been allowed to bring people in here,” she said.
Babcock acknowledged the system isn’t perfect. “You can’t win for losing. Everybody does a walkthrough and we say ‘yes, we’re missing the door, so that’s up to you,’ “she said. She explained that it can be confusing for people to understand that “what [they’re] doing in August is reserving it, and then it’s going to be ready sometime in October. Some people are okay with that
and some people need housing right then and there. So we lost some people.”
Affordable housing monopoly?
All in all, Tierra Realty is behind six different developments in Taos, and are one of the few development companies working with the town on affordable housing. The lack of competition may be creating a problem, however, with multiple complaints being filed with the town regarding Tierra Realty. Taos town council member Darien Fernandez said that he has personally fielded a handful of those complaints.
“[Residents] raised various concerns about just a lack of response from management to getting things fixed, such as water damage that goes unabated for quite some time,” said Fernandez. He said he has received several complaints about the Loma Parda apartments in particular – another one of Tierra Realty’s builds located off Paseo del Cañon East.
Concerning the Ochenta Apartments, however, several neighbors had various complaints with the development from the get go. One of those complaints – from another woman who wishes to remain anonymous due to potential backlash – was about how the developer and the town didn’t seem to take neighbor concerns seriously, especially when it came to the way the two story apartment buildings affected her privacy.
“We never got any kind of contact from the developer or the town in terms of what our opinions were on anything,” she said. “We just really honestly didn’t believe that [the town] would let a developer build a two story building within 40 feet of my fence that would take away my mountain views.”
The woman said that while she is concerned about her privacy as well as her lack of a view, she realizes the complex is something the town needs, but wondered if it could have been developed elsewhere. “As I drive around town there’s so many big lots that aren’t close to people’s houses that I feel like could have been utilized and would even be better for the people that are calling those units home.”
A bigger problem
While the unfinished apartments may be an annoyance for some, and fingers can be pointed both ways, the situation indicates a much larger problem persisting in Taos: the lack of affordable housing options and the oversaturation of the housing market with unoccupied vacation homes. Data from the U.S. Census Bureau shows that 42 percent of all homes in Taos County are vacant.
Further complications come from the fact that the median household income in Taos County – just over $38,000 – is only three quarters of the median throughout the state, and just three fifths of the amount in the United States. According to the town’s Affordable Housing Plan, an estimated 34.7 percent of renters in Taos County make $14,999 a year or less, and an estimated 33 percent make between $15,000 and $30,000, pointing to a large need for LIHTC projects. “We could build all day. We could build another complex. We’re done leasing, and we have tons of applications,” said Babcock.
Worsened by COVID
Town of Taos manager Rick Bellis said COVID has only exacerbated housing problems, with the virus driving up the demand for local housing by “part-time, retiree and fill-time new owners wanting to move here from out-of-state … due to our effective response to managing COVID.”
Due to this, Bellis said that a new kind of housing shortage has emerged, as well as “an escalation in prices by eager buyers that is causing owners of long-term rental properties to be coaxed into selling the units to new buyers as owneroccupied housing.
“We are being told by realtors that there is literally no housing available at this time at almost any price and that is expected to continue for the year, despite high numbers of new housing being built,” said Bellis
He said that it’s not just affordable housing that needs attention, but housing with all levels of affordability. “If we don’t allow new high-end housing, those buyers will keep bidding up the price of developable land and the existing more affordable housing,” he explained. This would then potentially dry up the market for renters, and residents hoping to become new homeowners. “This is a national and even international problem right now directly connected to COVID, and not unique to Taos.”
In order to best address the problem, Bellis said that a broad, regional approach is needed by governments at all levels to work together to make sure the majority of the workforce aren’t left behind. He said that because the issue is now so widespread, it might just finally be getting the attention it deserves. “All economic and age groups are now experiencing the housing crunch and getting community consensus that there is a problem and agreeing on the urgency of the problem and developing community consensus on solutions may be easier and more popular.”
Way to go Taos and Taos County residents. The county has reduced COVID-19 cases low enough to move to the state’s green level and open up businesses more.
The success is due to good local leadership and to everyone who has kept wearing masks, washing hands, keeping physical distance from each other and not gathering in large groups. A steady rate of vaccinations is helping. Success is also due to the sacrifices made by local businesses who’ve worked to adhere to public health orders, even when they knew it would hurt their bottom line.
The best thing everyone can do to help those businesses get back on their feet is to help the county stay at the green level. Abide by the public health orders (keep those masks on and keep your distance) and then frequent local shops and restaurants as often as possible. This is even more important as health officials warn of variants of the virus that causes COVID19. These variants pose new risks, but if everyone keeps doing what public health experts say works, they will be less of a threat .
We believe Taos County will remain green and open. And shop locally – thank your merchant neighbors who have worked to get the virus under control.
Airport success this time?
The town of Taos hopes to expand its regional airport and collaborate with partners to attract year-round flights. Those goals are detailed in a December 2019 master plan that was derailed temporarily by the pandemic. The expansion would be paid for through federal grants, state appropriations and town funds.
A larger airport could be good for the region’s economic development, but it won’t be without risks and drawbacks that must be addressed before the project moves forward.
The Taos Regional airport located several miles northwest of downtown encompasses 832 acres. Some 7,000 aircraft used the airport in the 12 months ending in April 2019, including general aviation, medical flights, air taxis and military flights. That’s an average of 19 flights per day. It was a big decrease from 2009 when 13,250 aircraft used the airport, but still a hefty number for a small airport.
The town and Taos Ski Valley see a lot of economic promise in the regional airport for expanding commercial passenger flights and business jets. Such a service could be vital to attracting new businesses, growing existing ones, along with keeping health professionals and others who need fast travel options. It might even make it easier for locals who’ve moved away to return to Taos and maintain essential family ties.
Still, the town has been here before. Multiple times in the last five decades, a gaggle of companies have offered flights for a few years and then ditched the airport due to financial constraints or lack of passengers – Santa Fe Airline, Mesa Airlines, Cessna Caravan, Jet Air, Sierra West, Westward and Zia Airlines to name a few.
Maybe this time will be different. Maybe.
Town of Taos officials have great hope that this time in collaboration with Taos Ski Valley, the air service will thrive and survive.
Taos Air flew 3,000 passengers between Taos and Texas in 2019 and expanded to California in 2020 before the pandemic hit and shut down the service. So the potential is there.
The town will likely face pushback on expansion from the surrounding residential developments, which have all grown precisely because it is some of the only affordable land left in the Taos Valley. Those properties are all in the county, not town limits.
And the town will need a complete cost-benefit analysis of the funds it will take to build out the airport versus putting that money into other needed services. That analysis needs to include the potential and likely loss of revenue due to:
• Severe drought/poor snow pack impacting both winter and summer visitation, a likely scenario according to climate predictions;
• Impacts or shifts in air travel in the next 15 years as governments move away from fossil fuels to address climate change;
• Another nationwide economic downturn due to a pandemic, market bubble or other unforeseen event.
An expanded Taos Regional Airport could be an excellent step toward helping the region’s economy recover, but only if all the risks and drawbacks have been thoroughly examined.