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County housing chief outlines $30M CLT plan, seeks BLM land and federal funds
Summary
Do—na Ana County's new housing department presented a five-year plan and a Community Land Trust proposal estimated to serve about 800 households, asking the board to use $30 million plus pursue another $30 million from state and federal programs.
Do—na Ana County's newly formed housing department presented its inaugural operational strategy on March 24 and outlined plans to develop a Community Land Trust (CLT) to create permanently affordable housing.
"We are anchoring our work in humane housing," said Dil Andrade, the housing presenter, describing a five-year operational plan and a cross-departmental Housing Strategic Task Force the department will convene to implement the board's affordable-housing priorities.
The CLT project described by staff is intended to create an estimated 800 permanently affordable homes with accompanying commercial and service uses—grocery, child care and neighborhood services—on roughly 350 acres the county is pursuing with Bureau of Land Management coordination. "Our goal is to work in fiscal year 27 toward finalizing the land acquisition and the development of a master plan for the community-type subdivision," Andrade said.
The board previously allocated $30 million for fiscal years 2027'28 from anticipated GRD revenue to acquire land, plan, design and construct the CLT; staff said they will seek an additional $30 million in state and federal grants. Andrade told the commission the acquisition cost estimate is about $6,000 per acre for roughly 350 acres (preliminary range $1.8'$2.3 million for a 350-acre parcel was cited in the presentation for a given parcel calculation).
Andrade also outlined a parallel plan to repurpose a $375,000 county loan fund (created in 2018) into a pilot program to support low-income homeowners and households affected by the 2025 floods with structural repairs, mold remediation and habitability restoration; housing will present a resolution to the board to change the fund's purpose and propose program eligibility and contractor pools.
The department previewed a multi-step timeline: finalize land agreements (working with BLM), complete ALTA surveys and preliminary plat work, produce a master plan that integrates housing, commercial spaces and infrastructure needs, and then pursue federal and state funding sources (HUD, CDBG and related programs). Andrade said the CLT timeline anticipates five years to project completion when residents would be moving into units.
Commissioners asked about plan-B contingencies if BLM review is slow; staff responded that a plan B exists and will be discussed in closed session. Commissioners also discussed HUD and state funding cycles and agreed the county can seek federal delegation and capital requests where appropriate.
The housing presentation provided a policy roadmap but did not represent formal approval of design or expenditure beyond the already allocated funds; staff will return with procurement steps, program design for the repurposed affordable-housing loan fund, and next-stage funding requests.
