Maricopa County approves $6 million for La Esperanza Terrace, 96-unit affordable housing on surplus school land

The Maricopa County Board of Supervisors approved $6 million to help build La Esperanza Terrace, a 96-unit affordable housing complex on surplus land owned by the Isaac Elementary School District in West Phoenix.

The project is Arizona’s first affordable housing community financed under a school-district surplus land initiative, county officials and project partners said. La Esperanza Terrace will include 32 one-bedroom, 32 two-bedroom and 32 three-bedroom units and will offer on-site employment services. Applicants must earn at or below 60% of the area median income and can apply in person at the leasing office.

The funding was approved by the board as part of the county’s use of American Rescue Plan (ARP) dollars for housing. "Maricopa County has used American Rescue Plan dollars to fund 1,035 affordable housing units so far," Maricopa County Supervisor Steve Gallardo said during remarks supporting the project. "These are projects that can be duplicated all over Maricopa County. Let it be the East Valley, the North Valley. This is something it has created the blueprint to say this is how we finance these types of housing communities."

Project partners and residents at the announcement described local demand for affordable housing. "It's really insane... I feel like I'm working paycheck to paycheck," said Amanda Torres, a West Phoenix resident, describing rents and cost pressures she and neighbors have experienced over the past five years. Jackson Fonder, chief executive officer of the local nonprofit UMOM, said La Esperanza Terrace is one of 10 housing complexes the organization has developed in the past 13 years to expand affordable housing options.

A project representative thanked the board of supervisors for the allocation and described the complex as "amazing," noting unit sizes and family-focused design. County officials and the nonprofit emphasized the project's use of surplus school property — a site the Isaac Elementary School District had not been using — as a way to add housing stock without consuming new land.

The board approval recorded the county’s financial commitment; the transcript did not provide a vote tally or a motion mover and seconder. County staff and the nonprofit did not specify a project completion date in the discussion recorded in the meeting transcript.

For eligibility, the project will prioritize households earning at or below 60% of area median income. The leasing office is accepting in-person applications, and the development will provide on-site employment services aimed at helping residents secure work.

County officials said the financing approach and the school-district surplus land initiative could be replicated in other parts of Maricopa County, though they did not outline a formal countywide rollout schedule in the recorded remarks.