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Converting hotels into permanent dwelling units is key to Mayor Tim Keller’s plan to rapidly boost Albuquerque’s housing stock in the next three years.
Now the public can learn more about how such transformations would work.
The city’s Family and Community Services Department is hosting a public meeting to discuss the concept from 5:30-7 p.m. Tuesday at the Albuquerque Convention Center. It is requesting attendees RSVP.
Keller in October unveiled a multi-pronged strategy to add an additional 5,000 housing units throughout the city by 2025. The plan calls for hotel/motel conversions to house 1,000 people by then. A zoning change earlier this year eased the process for city-funded conversions by allowing microwaves or hot plates to serve as a substitute for the standard requirement that every kitchen have a cooking stove or oven.
The city is looking into potential properties to buy for the purpose but has not yet completed any purchases, according to a spokeswoman. The city has publicly revealed the location of only one possible site: a hotel at 10330 Hotel Circle NE.
Some neighborhood opposition already has galvanized around that potential conversion, with some petitioning the city to change the zoning code to disallow such projects.
A city spokeswoman said that is one reason the city is holding the informational meeting.
“We hope to really educate about what we’re trying to do with these projects,” Katie Simon said. “I think there’s a lot of misinformation and just not a lot of understanding about what the vision is for these conversions.”
For more information on the meeting and to RSVP, go online to https://bit.ly/3VHHVqB.
