16-02-2025
Santa Fe County hopes to work with city on south-side housing development
As an affordable housing crisis persists in the region, Santa Fe County continues to work toward getting funding to build a high-profile residential development designed to create 159 affordable units within the city limits.
Nueva Acequia is a public-private partnership on land owned by Santa Fe County on 0 Camino de Jacobo, just off of Airport Road. Provided the necessary funding is secured, construction is anticipated to start next year with a potential completion date of February 2028.
This week, county commissioners gave County Manager Gregory Shaffer the green light to seek up to $3 million in funding for the project from the city of Santa Fe's Affordable Housing Trust Fund. A big undertaking for the county, Nueva Acequia would mark the first "100% affordable" multifamily housing project developed by the local government.
"Santa Fe County is suffering from an affordable housing crisis," Shaffer said in an emailed statement, noting "Nueva Acequia is unique and innovative for many reasons."
The project would include 53 units dedicated to seniors and 106 units for families, all of which would be devoted to households earning 30% to 80% of the area median income, according to an email from county spokesperson Olivia Romo.
"Santa Fe County is being proactive about addressing a segment of affordable housing that sometimes doesn't necessarily get delivered to the marketplace," said District 1 Commissioner Justin Greene.
"We have an opportunity to use tools and some financing mechanisms that can focus a project that targets more than one specific segment of the community that needs deeply affordable housing," Greene added.
Full funding and a final development agreement between the county and TWG Development, LLC — an Indiana-headquartered real estate development company — are pending. The project will cost approximately $53.5 million.
The county is applying for multiple funding sources, including tax credit financing and city, state, and federal grants and loans, and is working with TWG Development and the development team to prepare and submit financing applications, according to a county memorandum.
In November 2018, Santa Fe County acquired approximately 6.6 acres of developable land on Camino de Jacobo for the purpose of developing a multifamily affordable housing project, according to a county memorandum on the matter. The county issued a request for proposal in November 2023 and selected TWG as the development partner.
The project team is still developing the funding portfolio needed to build the project and a contractor has not yet been hired, Romo wrote in the email. Once built, the county envisions working with a qualified management company to operate the facilities and services.
"During a time when the lack of affordable housing and the cost of homes in Santa Fe is at [a] record high, this project aims to provide much needed 100% affordable housing for the community through an innovative public-private partnership with a national affordable housing developer, TWG," Romo wrote.
An affordable housing plan adopted by the county in 2023 references a 'wide-ranging and multi-faceted housing crisis contributing to economic and social uncertainty due to housing-price escalations, a lack of housing supply, restrictive housing policies, and a lack of supportive programs.' The plan says the median income of county residents rose 16% between 2016 and 2021 while average rental rates shot up 58% and average single-family home prices increased 61%.
"The County's 2023 Affordable Housing Plan reflects the need for approximately 6,232 affordable housing rental units," Shaffer said in his statement. "That is why the Board of County Commissioners has prioritized investment in affordable housing, and why the County has partnered with developers to hopefully bring 771 units of affordable rental housing online."
