2 days ago
City looking to fill empty corners in Albuquerque neighborhoods with housing
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (KRQE) – The City of Albuquerque is kicking up efforts to add more housing. Its latest move is offering up plots of land around the city for developers to fill in. One of four spots the city is hoping to develop into homes is located in a prime spot across from the Railyards. 'This is a joint partnership between using state funds and city land,' said Joseph Montoya, Deputy Director of Health, Housing, and Homelessness.
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The department has more than a million dollars in state capital outlay money to fund affordable housing projects, and now they are asking developers to submit housing proposals. They said the goal is to provide homes to low-income families. 'So, these are folks that earn less than 80% of their income, so a family of four, that's about $78,000 a year household income,' said Montoya.
The largest location is a two-acre lot on 90th Street and San Ygnacio Rd., where, in addition to giving the developer the land itself, the city will also offer nearly $780,000 to subsidize construction. The city said it will consider proposals for single- or multi-family homes like condos or townhomes on that site. 'The opportunity for more townhouse condo development, right? Which I think will be fun, but none of them are large enough for any mixed-use issues,' said Montoya.
The three smaller lots in the Barelas neighborhood, the city said, would be best suited for single-family home development. In addition to the land, a developer would receive nearly $500,000 from the city.
KRQE News 13 spoke to a resident who says the neighborhood needs the housing. 'There isn't enough, but hopefully you know stuff like this will get it popping to have a lot more development,' said Rick Espaline, a nearby resident.
The posted deadline to submit a proposal is July 8, but the city said they'll likely extend that period to get as many proposals as they can. Last month, the city sent out a request for information for 11 other locations throughout the city, asking developers for ideas. They said 10 organizations responded, showing interest.
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