Public Lands Office announces affordable housing deal in Las Cruces

LAS CRUCES — Public Lands Commissioner Stephanie Garcia Richard announced a new lease Monday of state trust land on the city’s east side to housing developer Sierra Norte Land Holdings in a deal aiming to boost the city’s affordable housing stock and build residential communities of mixed income levels.

The Mesa Vista development is planned to occupy over 800 acres of land near the city’s eastern limits, close to Organ Mountain High School and the Organ Mountains south of the highway connecting Las Cruces to White Sands Missile Range and Alamogordo.

The State Land Office said the developer already held a lease for over 322 acres while the new lease represents an additional 458 acres, totaling about 780 acres.

The public land will hold about 1,700 units, according to the office, with a requirement that the development include affordable housing, for families earning less than 80% of area median income based on family size; and attainable housing, for families earning between 80% and 120% of area median income.

The Mesa Vista lease follows state land deals for affordable housing projects in Albuquerque and Rio Rancho, which Garcia Richard said demonstrated a “deliberate pivot” under her administration to leveraging trust lands to expand housing statewide.

“Looking at the availability and accessibility of state trust land in every single county in the state, it seemed kind of a timely use for state lands,” she told the Journal.

The office says housing-related leases enacted under Garcia Richard’s administration will add about 4,800 housing units in total to New Mexico’s housing stock, including approximately 1,900 affordable units. Garcia Richard, a Democrat, took office in 2019 and is serving her second and final term.

Overall, at least 40% of Mesa Vista’s 4,300 housing units will comprise affordable and attainable housing, with the rest open for market-rate housing, under terms Garcia-Richard said were negotiated over a period of months.

John Moscato, a managing member of Sierra Norte, said the development “combines a diversity of housing with open spaces, parks, and opportunities for commercial development” in a news release, adding that, “Mesa Vista will be the catalyst for economic development and job growth for the region.”

The developer has also committed to power the homes with electricity, which was not a condition sought by the Land Office. The office praised it nonetheless on Monday, saying it reduces construction time and expense and helps the city meet renewable energy targets. Garcia Richard also highlighted the project’s plans for drought-resilient landscaping and water efficiencies.

Based on the most recent data, Las Cruces is contending with a 5,600-unit gap in needed rental units, and a total of approximately 10,000 rental and single-family housing units. Several housing projects are under construction in the city including developments targeting senior citizens, veterans and low-income families in mixed-income neighborhoods near commercial development, recreational facilities and social services.

Natalie Green, the city’s Housing and Neighborhood Revitalization Administrator, said the Mesa Vista development would include options for first-time home buyers, townhouses, duplexes and subsidized housing.

“When we’re looking at families holistically, we really want to see a range of incomes and a range of housing choices,” Green said. “We don’t want to see things like gentrification or concentration of poverty.”