City requests $50M toward closing housing gap

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. – The City of Albuquerque is asking for $50 million from the state to increase the amount of available housing in the city through its “Housing Forward Initiative.”

City officials say we need 30,000 more housing units in order to close the housing gap.

“So how do we fix the shortage? We’ve set a goal for 5,000,” said Mayor Tim Keller. 

The “Nuevo Atrisco” mixed-use project was the backdrop of Keller’s announcement. It was used as an example of how that money would be used. 

The city-owned property includes 68 affordable housing units, 12 market-rate units and future retail space in the city’s West Side. 

“That is going to be the future of a mixed-use retail plaza, that is pretty much good to go going forward,” said Keller. 

The requested money, if granted, would go toward both market-rate housing and affordable housing.

Keller also announced the city and county want to create a bigger housing authority to get more housing built faster. 

“This would be, from a government perspective, the single most largest sort of restructuring of city and county government, at least in recent memory,” Keller said. 

The city plans to use the funds to convert existing properties into housing. The funds would also boost construction and create more programs to house the homeless.