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Monday, March 15, 2010
Half-Built Homes Plague West Side
By Rosalie Rayburn
Copyright © 2010 Albuquerque Journal
Journal Staff Writer
They stand alone or among occupied homes, surrounded by tumbleweeds, pigeon droppings and trash.
Windows boarded over or broken, unfinished homes are the visible scars of a burst housing bubble that transformed stretches of mesa into sprawling subdivisions.
It's a growing problem, Safe City Strike Force manager Joe Martinez said. He estimates that his office has responded to calls about vandalism from police and city councilors affecting dozens of half-built homes, all of them on the West Side.
The strike force has slapped notices on the homes, warning people to keep out. Responsibility to keep the property secure rests with the owner, Martinez said, and the city can step in and order homes demolished if the builder can't restart construction within a year of receiving a notice. His office has begun condemnation proceedings on a handful of homes so far.
It has become a thorny issue for the city.
"We don't want them to be an eyesore, but we don't want to spend money tearing them down," said T.J. Wilham, the city's public safety spokesman.
Residents who bought homes in subdivisions like Longford Homes Arrowwood and The Trails developments on the West Side worry about the impact that the unfinished houses will have on their own property values.
One resident, who is trying to sell her home, said she and her neighbors are worried about vandalism, crime and the possibility of squatters occupying the empty houses.
How did this happen?
"It's all tied to the economy and the housing industry, which has been hammered for the last three years," said Jim Folkman, executive vice president of the Home Builders Association of Central New Mexico.
Las Vegas, Nev.-based Longford was once one of the most active building companies on the West Side. Company president John Murtagh said he was forced to halt construction in three developments in New Mexico when banks suddenly cut off his financing.
That left about a dozen homes unfinished at Arrowwood southwest of Gibson and 98th Street, as well as dozens of apartments in the Cantata section of The Trails, near Universe and Paseo del Norte, he said.
Murtagh has been trying for months to secure funding from the Federal Housing Administration to help restart his construction projects. He's hopeful money will come through this summer.
But he acknowledges that the federal agency is swamped with funding applications from companies facing the same problems as Longford.
"It's a very difficult time for everyone right now," Murtagh said.
Wilham said city officials prefer to work with builders and get people into the homes rather than raze them.
City code enforcement official Matthew Conrad said his office or the strike force notifies owners to secure the properties from vandals.
But if builders are able to resume construction, they still face challenges.
The Journal recently visited the Arrowwood subdivision. Although ground-floor doors and windows are boarded over, several unfinished homes had broken or missing second-story windows. Front porch steps were encrusted with bird droppings, and tumbleweeds and trash littered the yards.
Builders will have to apply for new city building permits and pass all required inspections, said the city's chief building official, Harry Dempsey.
"We would look at the framing and things to make sure anything damaged is repaired or replaced to ensure the integrity of the building," Dempsey said.
Even if the homes are finished, homeowners in subdivisions with unfinished homes, as in other parts of the city, will likely have to accept less than they paid for their homes if they choose to sell, said Talia Freedman, a Realtor with Southwest Signature Properties.
Longford originally planned to sell homes at Arrowwood at prices ranging from $120,000 to $200,000, depending on size. Murtagh now says those homes might fetch between $110,000 and $150,000.
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