State and local officials detail $150M+ in Albuquerque housing investments and new programs

State and local housing officials summarized recent investments and operational approaches for sheltering and housing people experiencing homelessness and building affordable housing in Albuquerque and Bernalillo County.

Lisa Uvall, housing initiatives manager at the Office of Housing, said that since the office moved under the Department of Workforce Solutions it has deployed about $150,000,000 statewide, with roughly $89,800,000 invested in Albuquerque and Bernalillo County projects over the last year. “This represents 60% of the total funds that we have deployed over the last year,” she said, and staff have issued RFIs to fund affordable development and cooling/outreach services as FY27 funds are rolled out.

Gilbert Ramirez, director of the city’s Department of Health, Housing and Homelessness, detailed the city’s gateway and navigation system. He told the committee the city’s shelter and navigation network has capacity across facilities equivalent to about 1,213 beds and hotel rooms and that on the day of the hearing the daily census was roughly 1,000 people. Ramirez highlighted programs including medical respite, a recovery housing campus for extended post‑detox support, and a medical sobering center; he suggested Medicaid administrative billing changes could recover about $2,000,000 of operational costs if approved.

Bernalillo County Manager Cindy Chavez described deployment of $68,000,000 the county received, about $60M of which she said has already been invested. The county purchased hotels for transitional family programs, expanded home‑rehab efforts (27 homes to date from a small pool of state rehab grants), and used flexible prevention dollars that county staff said had helped keep roughly 2,500 individuals (about 800 families including 1,300 children) housed or re‑housed.

Nonprofit developers represented by Chris Baca described preservation‑focused development, mixed‑income projects and a transit‑oriented approach to new communities. Deputy director Carrie Ellis gave rent benchmarks for acquired properties: below‑30% AMI studios roughly $833/month, Poblano Place studios about $1,000 and two‑bedrooms about $1,300.

Committee members raised operational questions: how rents will be set and sustained, how reserves and sinking funds will be created for long‑term maintenance, and the effects of local budget adjustments (one local budget held $1.5M of recurring voucher match funding pending mid‑year review). County and city officials emphasized the need for coordination across state, local and federal streams to close operational and capital gaps.

Why it matters: officials said this combination of capital investments, navigation and rehousing programs aims to reduce visible homelessness and provide long‑term exits to stable housing, but they warned that federal grant shifts and local budget actions could create shortfalls for housing vouchers and operations without legislative attention and coordination.

The committee requested follow‑up details on operational costs, exact rent schedules for specific properties, and a mid‑year update on the $1.5M voucher hold.