Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham discusses affordable housing in New Mexico at the groundbreaking of Amador Crossing Apartments in Las Cruces, Jan. 8, 2025.(Leah Romero / Source New Mexico)
The latest affordable housing development in New Mexico broke ground in Las Cruces Wednesday on the campus of Mesilla Valley Community of Hope, which will provide wraparound services to unhoused people a short walk away.
Amador Crossing Apartments will be a 50-unit supportive housing complex located in downtown Las Cruces, butting up to food assistance, healthcare, case management and other services.
Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham told those attending the groundbreaking that the country as a whole has circumnavigated affordable housing. Inflated housing costs, low supply and a lack of prioritization have heightened the problem.
“We’re committing resources to get things built. Those things primarily are housing,” Lujan Grisham said.
Rep. Micaela Lara Cadena (D-Mesilla), one of the state lawmakers who secured capital outlay funds for the construction project, said this partnership was unique in that the City of Las Cruces is acting as the fiscal sponsor, distributing money to community organizations to complete the build.
“That seems like it’s probably the most effective way to get spends happening quickly on shovel-ready projects,” Lara Cadena said. “State agencies are returning money that they haven’t spent to these purposes in recent years.”
The full construction cost is almost $16 million, which has nearly been completely covered by the City of Las Cruces, a grant from the state Mortgage Finance Authority and capital outlay funds secured by the governor and state legislators. Roughly $4 million is needed to fill the remaining gap to cover final construction costs, furnishings, fixtures, roadway improvements and solar power.
Lara Cadena said “hundreds of millions of new dollars” will be earmarked for behavioral health care and housing projects across the state, but she has not yet seen the draft budgetary bill that the state House of Representatives will bring to the session later this month.
According to the city’s Affordable Housing Investment Strategy, the construction phase of the project is expected to take about a year and a half to complete.
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