Downtown affordable housing project to move forward with new developer — and name

Construction on a stalled housing project in Downtown Albuquerque will continue with a new developer.

The project, called Sendero, was announced in 2022 under the name the Downtowner and was originally slated for completion in late 2025, though city officials said the project was delayed due to rising construction costs, financing challenges and market conditions.

Nonprofit affordable housing developer Sol Housing has now taken over the project, slated for a vacant lot on First and Silver SW, from Rembe Urban Design + Development.

“I think inflation and the cost of lumber (are) probably driving prices up in most cases. That’s what we’ve heard in the marketplace,” Metropolitan Redevelopment Agency Director Terry Brunner said Monday.

The building will reserve some of its proposed 141 units for income-restricted affordable housing, Brunner said. City officials hope the project will be completed in 2027.

The original development, the Downtowner, had a budget of $30.1 million, according to previous Journal reporting. City officials at the time had said the development would include 207 rental units, 11 work units and a coffee shop on its bottom floor.

A spokesperson for Sol Housing declined to comment on the announcement, citing not-yet-finalized sources of funding, though it is expected some of that money will come from municipal and federal sources.

Some of the units will be available for rent based on affordable housing standards set by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, Brunner said, though income restrictions have not yet been decided.

“We hear a lot about the affordability issue here in Albuquerque and across the country, that rents are going up and people can't afford them,” Brunner said. “I think affordable housing helps combat that, but also just the mere construction of new units helps to relieve a lot of stress on the housing stock that we're feeling in Albuquerque."

The city had provided the land, a $1.8 million gap financing grant and a tax abatement valued at roughly $1.5 million over seven years for the previous project overseen by Rembe. The project, now under Sol’s purview, will need a new development agreement, Brunner said.

“We really don’t commit anything until the project is substantially complete,” Brunner said.

Once complete, Sendero will include a ground-floor community space, bicycle parking, rooftop amenities and connections to the under-construction Albuquerque Rail Trail, a 7-mile loop connecting core parts of the city to pedestrians and bikers.

Natalie Robbins covers the economy and health care for the Journal. You can reach her at nrobbins@abqjournal.com.