First Affordable Housing Project Supported by Enterprise Rural and Native American Initiative to Open Soon

By Anuradha Kher, Online News EditorGallup, N.M.–Enterprise, Supportive Housing Coalition of New Mexico, CARE 66, the city of Gallup, the New Mexico Mortgage Finance Authority, Annenberg Foundation and the state of New Mexico will open this Friday the newly constructed Chuska Apartments, an affordable “green” housing property bordering the Navajo Nation at 2534 East Aztec Ave. in Gallup, N.M.Chuska Apartments is the first affordable housing development supported by the recently launched Enterprise Rural and Native American Initiative. The development offers 30 fully subsidized, energy-efficient apartments located in six residential buildings.The Enterprise Rural and Native American Initiative is a commitment to build or preserve 10,000 affordable homeownership and rental opportunities over the next five years on Native American land and in rural communities. Other features include a community building, a playground, a community garden and a rock garden integrated into an existing natural rock outcropping. Twenty apartments are available for families earning 60 percent of the area median income (AMI). The remaining 10 units are reserved for formerly homeless families, with incomes at or below 30 percent AMI, who will also receive supportive services from CARE 66. The project features units ranging from two-bedroom/one-bath units to those with three-bedrooms and two-baths. Each home offers rear patios or front yards, dishwashers, washer/dryer hookups, and storage lofts above the kitchens. Green features include passive solar space heating, drought-tolerant landscaping, energy-efficient windows, rooftop solar water heating, passive radon venting system and roof rainwater catchment systems for irrigation. The $7.9 million project received $6.3 million in Low Income Housing Tax Credit (LIHTC) equity from Enterprise and nearly $120,000 in grants through Enterprise Green Communities, the Enterprise Supportive Housing initiative as well as other federal funding sources. The city of Gallup, the state of New Mexico, the Annenberg Foundation and the New Mexico Mortgage Finance Authority supplied additional funding through grants and construction loans.