The Housing New Mexico Board of Directors approved a $2.42 million award for rental housing in the Village of Angel Fire and a $732,939 award for transitional housing in Albuquerque in its Dec. 18 meeting.

The Village of Angel Fire received the $2.42 million award under the Affordable Housing in Fire Affected Counties Notice of Funding Availability, according to a press release. The Hermit’s Peak/Calf Canyon Fire in 2022 impacted the village’s housing stock.

The village plans to install 20 modular units on a 4.25-acre site at 3431 Mountain View Blvd. for low- and moderate-income households. The project is aimed at addressing the village’s lack of housing, which is impacting its ability to attract a workforce.

“The businesses in Angel Fire don’t compete for customers, they compete for employees,” said Village of Angel Fire Mayor BJ Lindsey in a press release. “There are a lot of families that would love to live and work in Angel Fire, but there is simply no place to live. The village, resort and all other businesses are all hiring, [and they] have qualified applicants but no place to house them.”

The $2.42 million will fund an infrastructure and environmental abstract survey, which could take between two or three months, Rocky Lira, Village of Angel Fire clerk, said in an email statement.

This fits within the village’s timetable because it’s under a dig moratorium until May 2025, Lira said. He said the dig moratorium is in place because of the Angel Fire’s cold climate.

The village plans to get all its surveys, permits and engineering completed while the environmental survey is being conducted so that it’s ready to put houses on the property in May 2025, once the dig moratorium is lifted. The hope is that the houses would be up by the end of the summer, Lira said.

The total estimated cost for the project is $9 million, and a general contractor and architect have not yet been selected, Lira said.

It’s undetermined if the homes will have one, two or three bedrooms, but there’s a village employee survey out now to help make that decision, Lira said. The units are for-rent only and will be priced between $200 and $300 below market-rate rents.

Farther south, Saranam received a $732,939 award to build transitional housing in Albuquerque.

This housing is intended to help people transition from homelessness into permanent, affordable housing. Saranam offers a two-year program that provides housing, food, education and training to help individuals break the cycle of generational homelessness and achieve long-term stability and independence, according to a press release.

The funds will be used to add 13 units, a family community center, a playground and community gardens to its Westside campus at 4651 Montaño Road NW. This is part of the campus’s Phase 2 construction, which will see a total of 23 new units.

“Saranam thanks the MFA (Housing New Mexico) for this incredible support,” said Tracy Weaver, Saranam executive director, in a press release. “With this impactful gift we are able to complete our new campus build that will house up to 23 families at a time, more than doubling our capacity.”

Phase 1 finished in October and saw the addition of 10 units. Saranam also has a 24-unit apartment complex on Albuquerque’s Eastside.

Source:  “Housing New Mexico Awards Nearly $2.5M to Angel Fire Development“