Los Alamos outlines housing push: plan update, developer talks and 87-unit rent subsidy

Dan Osborne, Los Alamos County housing and special projects manager, told the Los Alamos County Health Council that the county is pursuing multiple projects to expand housing supply and preserve affordability in a land‑constrained market.

“We hired site south. We went through an RFP and procurement process, contracted with sites southwest, to update our affordable housing plan,” Osborne said, describing the county’s recent planning and procurement work to guide development and program investments.

The update followed a long gap: Osborne said the county’s affordable housing plan had not been updated since 02/2010. County staff have also moved quickly to restore programs that had been run by a nonprofit that closed after its long-time manager retired. Osborne said the county has contracted with Santa Fe Community Housing Trust to resume the county’s homebuyer down‑payment assistance and home‑rehabilitation loan programs; those loans are non‑amortizing notes recorded against property and repaid when a property sells. “We have not issued a loan yet, but we're getting very close,” Osborne said of the trust’s initial outreach in Los Alamos.

Osborne described the scale of the need and the county’s production targets. He said a 2019 assessment estimated roughly 1,000 new units would be needed; re-running the numbers in 2024 raised that to about 1,300 units to maintain the status quo and closer to 2,400 units “if we want to start moving the needle.” He explained local area median income (AMI) is high compared with the state: “AMI is the area median income. So… the area median income in Los Alamos is about $110,000 just for round numbers,” Osborne said, underscoring how a high AMI changes which income bands are considered “missing middle.”

Osborne reviewed projects the county is pursuing or facilitating:

- Ninth‑street apartment participation: The county recently approved a participation agreement to buy down rents on 87 apartments for the next 20 years. Osborne described the financial package as two parts: a subsidy to lower tenant rents and a smaller rehabilitation fund. He said “about $33,800,000.0 is going just to subsidize the units to bring down those costs through time” and an additional roughly $520,000 will be available on a reimbursement basis targeted largely to ADA and energy‑efficiency improvements (for example updating boilers and adding heat‑pump split systems). Osborne said roughly 75% of the units at that property had been rehabbed by the current owner; the county funds would target the remaining units and specific accessible unit upgrades.

- Twentieth Street solicitation: The county issued a solicitation for a parcel just under 2 acres across from Ashley Pond (near the smart house). Osborne said the county is negotiating with a development partner that has proposed “up to 300 units” and a small retail component. Those units would be market‑rate rentals, he said, with rents that could range roughly “$2,000–$4,000 per unit” depending on size. He said the developer has agreed to accommodate a Canyon Rim Trail alignment through the site. Osborne cautioned the county is still in negotiations and no contract has been signed; the developer is completing surveys and due diligence and working with county engineering on off‑site roadway, multimodal, and signalization requirements.

- A8 parcel (DP Road): The county issued a separate solicitation for the A8 parcel on DP Road (about 22 acres). Osborne said several respondents proposed projects; city/county leadership selected one respondent to work with. He said the project originally contemplated roughly 359 units targeted at the missing middle, but recent changes in financing have sharply increased costs. “Every time we hear a whiff of tariff or supply chain or financing, that means the AMI that they can serve just went higher,” he said, noting he is uncertain whether the A8 deal can be completed under current market conditions.

Osborne emphasized the constraints that make local projects complicated: limited land, environmental stipulations on lab‑transferred parcels, and higher construction costs in a remote mountain community. He described the low income housing tax credit (LIHTC) pipeline as an important tool for 30–60% AMI housing and noted the county recently added two LIHTC projects (Canyon Walks and the Bluffs senior apartments) to the local inventory.

On tenant protections and program rules, Osborne described the county’s approach when households’ incomes rise above the program thresholds: tenants who exceed income limits may pay higher rents but are not immediately displaced. “Once I make 80%, you've got 2 years to find new housing,” Osborne said, describing a two‑year off‑ramp for households whose incomes grow beyond program limits.

Osborne closed by noting next steps: the county will continue negotiations with development partners, coordinate engineering and public works on off‑site improvements, finalize the Santa Fe Community Housing Trust office presence in town, and return to stakeholders with progress updates. He also invited faith‑community and nonprofit partners to collaborate on supportive services and short‑term safe parking or shelter options.

Why it matters: Los Alamos faces a high AMI, limited land, and rising construction costs. County officials say a mix of subsidies, tax‑credit production, public land solicitations and developer incentives will be needed to increase supply for low‑income, moderate‑income and “missing middle” households.