Affordable housing developer Dominium broke ground on a new community on the southwest side of Santa Fe this morning. The Turquoise Trail community will add 312 affordable units to Santa Fe’s housing supply and should be complete in the spring of 2028.
Center for Housing Economics Director Roger Valdez attended the ceremony to champion a new piece of state legislation that aims to make developments like Turquoise Trail more economically viable.
"This project would have saved significant money," Valdez told KSFR. "$7 million they're paying in gross receipts tax which could have created as many as 25 additional units."
State Senator Michael Padilla has pre-filed a bill for the upcoming legislative session that aims to eliminate Gross Receipts Taxes on multifamily affordable rental housing in the state. Some experts estimate that New Mexico needs to add 90,000 affordable housing units to meet demand. Valdez said it doesn't make sense for the state to tax housing that it subsidizes.
"State and local governments are granting funds to these projects, but then taxing part of that money back," Valdez said. "Our argument is, keep that money in the project, create more units, keep rents low, reduce the amount of debts the projects take."
Valdez said that any builder seeking a GRT exemption under the new legislation will have to qualify as a grantee under New Mexico's Affordable Housing Act, creating accountability for the savings.
State Representative Matthew McQueen represents District 50 which includes the Turquoise Trail development. McQueen has a unique connection to the parcel of land.
"There was a proposal for this to be a truck stop and I was the lead attorney for the community group that opposed that proposal," McQueen said. "It's exciting to me to see this result."
McQueen is running for State Land Commissioner and noted that the State Land Office has land that would be ideal for affordable housing developments.
The State Legislative Session kicks off Tuesday. Stay tuned to KSFR for more on proposed legislation.
