Marana lags behind southern Arizona neighbors in tracking affordable housing needs

As southern Arizona grapples with a mounting affordable housing crisis, cities and towns across the region have taken steps to better understand their needs.

Tucson created a commission in 2020 to advise city officials on how to increase affordable housing stock and conducted studies to analyze the city's housing situation and the areas with the most need. Yuma, a city near the Arizona-Mexico border, conducted multiple housing needs assessments over the last five years. Just north, Globe created an Economic Development department in 2018 and had housing assessments conducted by private employers and Gila County.

The town of Patagonia, known for its unique wildlife landscape, is in dire need of affordable housing and having trouble attracting anyone to build low-income housing units. With a decreasing population, town officials say they are considering developing affordable housing themselves.

But unlike many of its neighbors, the town of Marana opted against such assessments. It is instead relying on a soon-to-be-completed needs survey that will be conducted and funded by Pima County.

Town staff said the Marana Town Council had approved funding for the assessment as part of this year’s budget to conduct its own assessment. But when Pima County announced its assessment efforts, the council decided to join the county’s study to save money. Town staff said the desire for the assessment was driven by Marana’s growth over the last five years.

But while town officials tout growth, Pima County told The Arizona Republic only one development applied for county affordable housing funding in fiscal year 2023.

Affordable housing development coming to Marana

Marana is “fast-growing,” said Mayor Ed Honea, noting that the town has received about 90 home permit requests in the last couple of months.

Honea attributed much of the town’s current growth to the workforce of companies in nearby towns, including Proctor & Gamble in Coolidge and Lucid Motors in Casa Grande. According to Marana’s Development Services Department, the 56,000-person town is expected to exceed 75,000 people by 2040, an estimate based on U.S. census data.

Town officials know affordable housing is needed. But without conducting any studies, they are unable to quantify the gap in affordable housing.

Despite the gap in data, Marana is working to increase its affordable housing stock.

Affordable housing developer Dominium announced in November its acquisition of land in southern Marana to build 200 new units for low-income families.

The new apartment complex, The Safford, will add additional housing stock to meet that demand. Rent limits will be $1,096 for a two-bedroom apartment, $1,266 for a three-bedroom apartment, and $1,413 for a four-bedroom apartment.

Construction will be supported by Section 42 Low-Income Housing tax credits, which require developers to maintain rates based on the Area Median Income, calculated by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.

Marana officials said the complex is just one of seven rental developments currently under construction, in addition to eight single-family developments. It is the only new development in Marana that applied for gap funding from Pima County for affordable housing development in fiscal year 2023, according to the county.

According to the county's online database, Marana has two other affordable housing properties for low-income families.

Construction of The Safford is expected to be completed by the fall of 2025. The project is one of several around Arizona that are part of Dominium’s $1 billion affordable housing projects, which include developments in Goodyear and Phoenix.

"Dominium is proud to help provide vital, affordable family housing in Marana and provide an asset to the broader community,” said Owen Metz, Dominium’s senior vice president and the regional development leader of Phoenix, in a news release.

In the works: New housing and commercial development to come to south Marana

Reach the reporter at sarah.lapidus@gannett.com.

The Republic’s coverage of southern Arizona is funded, in part, with a grant from Report for America. Support Arizona news coverage with a tax-deductible donation at supportjournalism.azcentral.com.

This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Marana waits to join southern AZ neighbors in assessing housing needs