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| Wilson and city and housing officials announce downtown housing project |
January 29, 2001 |
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ALBUQUERQUE, NM – U.S. Representative Heather Wilson (R-NM) today joined Mayor Jim Baca, City Councilor Adele Baca-Hundley, representatives from the New Mexico Mortgage Finance Authority (MFA), GSL Properties, the Downtown Action Team and Fannie Mae (FNM/NYSE), the nation’s largest source of financing for home mortgages and multifamily financing, to break ground on the Villa de San Felipe Apartments, the first new, affordable multifamily housing construction in downtown Albuquerque in more than 15 years. The multimillion-dollar housing development is being financed through a public-private partnership that includes Fannie Mae, New Mexico MFA, GSL Properties, SunAmerica and the City of Albuquerque.
“Good affordable housing is important to raising a healthy family,” said Rep. Wilson. “I fully support developments like Villa de San Felipe. This is a perfect example of what is possible through public private partnerships and the use of the federal low-income housing tax credit.”
“We are thrilled to be breaking ground for the new Villa de San Felipe development,” noted Mayor Baca. “It is a key component in our downtown redevelopment strategy, and is the first new housing in downtown in 15 years.” “This new housing will be convenient to where our families have lived and worked for generations.”
Villa de San Felipe is important for the city and for the Barelas neighborhood, in particular,” said Council member Baca-Hundley. “In addition to providing affordable housing for 161 families, I am pleased to see that the design of the project will blend with and provide a smooth transition to the neighborhood. The streetscaping and other investments the city is making will be returned many times over both financially and socially”
The $10.2 million project represents the first significant multifamily housing to be built downtown in over 15 years, and is a key part of the city’s downtown redevelopment initiative. The City of Albuquerque has provided over $2 million in the form of favorable financing for the land, infrastructure improvements, and an 8-year property tax abatement, as well as other federal and local subsidies. The New Mexico MFA provided low income housing tax credits (LIHTC) that will generate $2.8 million of equity that will help fund the development, and will provide another $5.5 million in construction and permanent debt financing through its risk sharing program. SunAmerica will invest in the LIHTC, and GSL Properties, a Portland, Oregon based company with considerable experience in multifamily development in Albuquerque, NM, as well as Portland is the developer. Fannie Mae has provided the capital to fund the $5.5 million loan.
Villa de San Felipe is a 161-unit mixed income housing development located on a 3.42 acre site on the north side of Coal Avenue between 5th and 8th streets in downtown Albuquerque. It includes 76 studio apartments, 53 1-bedroom and 32 2-bedroom units. Forty percent of the units will be affordable to tenants earning no more than 60 percent of the area median income ($48,300), and the remaining units are open to all families regardless of their incomes. Monthly rents will range from $371 to $750. Construction will be complete this year.
“Along with the expansion of our downtown offices currently under construction, MFA is demonstrating its commitment to downtown revitalization with this investment in Villa de San Felipe,” said Jon Word, chairman of MFA’s Board.
“I want to thank the City of Albuquerque, Fannie Mae and our many other partners for creating an atmosphere where private companies can invest with both public and private partners in exciting development projects like Villa de San Felipe,” said David Bell, principal, GSL Properties.
“Housing is a vital component in the success of our overall downtown revitalization effort, said Tony Bull, director, Downtown Action Team. “Today’s Villa de San Felipe groundbreaking is another step in our ongoing efforts to combine housing, community development and commercial development to reach our goal of increasing the number of people living downtown to at least 20,000.”
“Fannie Mae’s $5.5 million investment in Villa de San Felipe is the first major installment on our $25 million commitment to downtown Albuquerque,” said Steve Anaya, director of Fannie Mae’s New Mexico Partnership Office. “We promised to play a vital role in this community and today’s groundbreaking is evidence that we are committed to a revitalized downtown.”
For more information on rental opportunities at Villa de San Felipe Apartments, please call toll-free 1-877-224-2554.
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Fannie Mae is a New York Stock Exchange company and the largest non-bank financial services company in the world. It operates pursuant to a federal charter and is the nation’s largest source of financing for home mortgages. Fannie Mae is working to shrink the nation’s "homeownership gaps" through a $2 trillion "American Dream Commitment" to increase homeownership rates and serve 18 million targeted American families by the end of the decade. Since 1968, Fannie Mae has provided $3.0 trillion of mortgage financing for over 37 million families. |
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