City, state celebrate new housing

Officials from the State of New Mexico and from the City of Las Cruces gathered to break ground on a new housing initiative and to celebrate the $11 million in state funds that the city received to create more housing.

The ground breaking marked the beginning of construction for the Arcadia 4 Subdivision near Red Hawk Golf Course. Arcadia will be home to 52 single family homes aimed at those making up to 120% of the area median income. This project is a collaboration between the city and Tierra del Sol Housing Corporation with hopes to make home ownership more attainable for first time buyers. 

The event was attended by New Mexico State Senator Carrie Hamblen, State Representative Nathan Small, and Secretary of the New Mexico Department of Workforce Solutions Sarita Nair. Various members of the Las Cruces government including Mayor Eric Enriquez, City Manager Ikani Taumoepeau, and City Councilor Becky Corran were in attendance as well.

Arcadia will use $3,250,000 of the $11 million from the state with other projects like Peachtree Canyon Apartments, Pedrena Senior Apartments, Skylarks Subdivision, and Amador Crossing receiving the rest of the funds. 

Las Cruces Mayor Pro Tem Johana Bencomo said that this amount of money is a huge help for the city's affordable housing goals.

“With this $11 million, we will finish several projects totalling 600 new units covering the full spectrum of housing, from supportive housing to multifamily affordable housing apartments to single family homes like right here in Arcadia,” Bencomo said.

Housing and Neighborhood Revitalization Administrator for the City of Las Cruces Natalie Green said that this project and others will help address a major need. 

“There is a big gap to fill. We have almost 5,600 in rental shortages and almost 5,000 in single family so it is a start but we are definitely getting there,” Green said. 

However, not everyone thinks this is the best use of money in the city. Attendee Tim Jenkins said that he supports the idea that everyone deserves to have a roof over their head but the city has other problems to tackle, too.

“What are we doing about crime? What are we doing about crime and mental health? You could spend $11 million and build a mental health hospital to start dealing with mental health,” Jenkins said.

The city says that it plans to build the infrastructure in the subdivision over the next year and build homes there in the following couple of years.