CITY of ALBUQUERQUE
TWENTY SIXTH COUNCIL
COUNCIL BILL NO. M-25-6 ENACTMENT NO. ________________________
SPONSORED BY: Renée Grout
MEMORIAL
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Declaring Support For The Housing Affordability Amendment To The New Mexico Metropolitan Redevelopment Code (Grout)
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WHEREAS, The City of Albuquerque is in a housing crisis; and
WHEREAS, the housing landscape and dynamics within the City of Albuquerque have been analyzed and documented within various housing-related reports such as the 2020 Albuquerque Affordable Housing and Homelessness Needs Assessment, the 2023 Housing Forward ABQ report, and the 2024 Albuquerque Region Housing Needs Assessment; and
WHEREAS, key findings in these reports point to several factors such as affordability, cost burden, overcrowding, gaps in rental and ownership housing, and demographic trends affecting the availability and condition of housing. The 2024 Affordable Housing Needs Assessment reported the following key findings:
1) Overall, all the available land for future housing is located on the West side. If all that land develops as housing, the jobs/housing balance will worsen, congestion at river crossings will increase, and access to services for West Side residences will be challenging.
2) Redevelopment incentives east of the Rio Grande will be needed to build more housing close to job centers and services.
3) Albuquerque’s increasing proportion of older adults means more small households that need smaller units or multi-family units with nearby services.
4) 52% of all renters are cost burdened because they pay more than 30% of their income in housing.
5) Significant subsidies are needed to make housing affordable now and into the future.
6) 41% of rental housing is Class C, signaling an aging housing
stock in need of significant repair and maintenance.
WHEREAS, the U.S Department of Housing and Urban Development published the 2025 Area Median Income Adjusted limit as follows:
WHEREAS, the housing affordability amendment to the Metropolitan Redevelopment Code, Chapter 3, Article 60A NMSA 1978, before the Second Session of the 57th Legislature, proposes to leverage the tax abatement powers of the Metropolitan Redevelopment Code to increase the availability of affordable multi-family housing units specifically for those households within 70% and 95% AMI; and
WHEREAS, the proposed amendment would create a new qualifying criterion to be referred to as the “Affordable Housing Crisis Area” that could encompass up to the entire jurisdictional area of the local government but be limited to rehabilitation or new construction of multi-family properties and/or affordable housing developments with the above-mentioned AMI parameters; and
WHEREAS, the City of Albuquerque is experienced in administering affordable housing projects and the Metropolitan Redevelopment Tax Abatement program to build more housing units across its jurisdiction; and
WHEREAS, the City of Albuquerque is committed to properly administering the powers and tools of the Metropolitan Redevelopment Code as intended by the legislature to abate the issues creating depressed socioeconomic conditions of its residents.
BE IT MEMORIALIZED BY THE COUNCIL, THE GOVERNING BODY OF THE CITY OF ALBUQUERQUE:
SECTION 1. The Albuquerque City Council declares its support for the proposed housing affordability amendment to the Metropolitan Redevelopment Code.
SECTION 2. The Albuquerque City Council urges the New Mexico State Legislature to pass, and the Governor to sign into law, the housing affordability amendment to the Metropolitan Redevelopment Code.
SECTION 3. The City Clerk is directed to transmit copies of this Memorial to the City of Albuquerque State Legislative Delegation, the New Mexico Legislature, the Governor of New Mexico, the New Mexico Municipal League, and other appropriate state agencies.