Most new apartment complexes go up. West Village is going out.
Bernalillo County commissioners gave final approval Oct. 14 to a tax abatement for West Village, a 144-unit workforce housing project at 4820 Westside Blvd. NW in District 4. According to the county's announcement, the project will sit on about eight acres and represents an estimated $26 million in private investment.
One small note on location: the county's release describes the site as being in the southwest area of Albuquerque and Bernalillo County, but the address itself is on Westside Boulevard NW. We're going by the address.
Apartments with a front door and a backyard
What makes West Village stand out is the design. Instead of a mid-rise building with long hallways, the units will be one- and two-story "horizontal" apartments. Each will have a private ground-floor entrance, windows on more than one side for natural light and cross-ventilation, and a private backyard.
Outdoor amenities planned for the community include a pool, a sauna, fire pits, grilling stations, community farm tables and shaded gathering areas.
The county says all 144 units will be offered at reduced levels tied to area median income.
A local builder, a long-stalled site
The builder is Rembe Urban Design and Development and Rembe Properties LLC. The county describes Rembe as a locally owned firm established in 2003 that offers design, development, architecture, construction management and property management in Albuquerque. Its past projects include Griegos Farms and Los Poblanos Historic Inn and Organic Farm.
Rembe Properties will develop, own and manage the community for the long term, according to the county.
West Village was one of two projects approved through the county's Non-PRB affordable housing tax abatement program that night. Under the agreement, the developer will pay the county an annual fee of $9,900 for 30 years, for a total of $297,006, in place of regular property taxes.
Commissioner Walt Benson said the site has been a tough one to get going.
"The West Village property has had two proposed projects since 2005 and did not move forward to execution due to the current economy," he said. "Now, both dirt lots are being activated and, in addition to providing more housing stock, the construction of these projects will also stimulate our economy, create jobs and represent long-term investments in the well-being of our community."
Benson said West Village and the 171-unit Cibola Loop project, approved the same night, will together provide 312 workforce rentals. Using the county's own unit counts, the two add up to 315.
No construction start date was included in the county's announcement.
Why it matters for Contractors
West Village is a different kind of apartment job. One- and two-story buildings spread across eight acres mean more foundations, more roofs and more exterior walls per unit than a typical mid-rise. That's good news for residential crews: framers, roofers, stucco and siding contractors, window installers and concrete crews who normally work on single-family homes may find this type of job a natural fit.
Private backyards mean plenty of fencing and landscaping, and the pool, sauna and gathering areas add work for pool contractors, hardscape crews and specialty trades. Spread-out sites also need more site utilities, paving and drainage work than a compact building.
Since Rembe handles construction management in-house, subs should contact the firm directly to find out how it plans to buy out the work. The county release doesn't name a separate general contractor, and we aren't naming one here.
The bigger picture is worth watching too. Rentals with a private front door and a backyard feel more like a house than a typical apartment for a lot of renters. If West Village leases up well, it could encourage more of this kind of housing around Albuquerque, giving residential builders another type of project to go after.
The tax deal matters as well. In place of regular property taxes, the developer pays a fixed annual fee, which makes the project's costs easier to predict over the long haul. In the county's Cibola Loop announcement, Benson said this kind of abatement improves a project's cash flow, which helps developers get lower interest rates on construction loans. He also said the construction of these projects will "create jobs," and for contractors on the Westside, that's the part that counts. A site that sat as a dirt lot through two failed proposals is finally set to see crews and equipment.