Taos Pueblo to receive $7.5 million grant for affordable housing

Sep. 5—Federal lawmakers say a $7.5 million grant to build affordable housing at Taos Pueblo will create "generational wealth" for at least 24 families who might not otherwise be able to buy a home.

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development block grant will be paid for by the Indian Housing Block Grant Program, according to a news release issued by U.S. Sen. Martin Heinrich, D-N.M. The funding comes a year after Taos Pueblo officials broke ground on the long-awaited 50-acre Spider Rock Road Housing Development, or "New House" neighborhood.

Project plans include four emergency housing areas and a 50-unit housing complex.

The pueblo is in "dire need of housing" for tribal members, Taos Pueblo Gov. Gary J. Lujan said in a statement.

"Through this award, Taos Pueblo will now be able to enter into housing construction, providing homes for those most in need, while continuing our work to assure that all tribal members have safe, affordable quality housing," Lujan said.

The new housing project will be one of several at New Mexico pueblos to revitalize tribal communities, including Santo Domingo, Ohkay Owingeh, Acoma, Laguna and Zuni.

The plan to provide more affordable housing at Taos Pueblo — billed as one of the oldest continuously inhabited communities in the nation with more than 1,000 years of tradition — began in 2012 with more than 30 stakeholder meetings.

Those meetings gave birth to an integrated design, created in part by the voices of the Taos Pueblo Housing Authority, which worked with Ferguson & Pyatt Architects to create the New House project.

The tribe published its Comprehensive Indigenous Community and Land Use Plan in 2014. Two years later it applied for and received its first New Mexico Indian Affairs Department grant for $310,000.

It was a small start.

By 2018, the tribe's housing authority had designated 50 acres east of Spider Rock Road for the neighborhood.

It took another two years for biologists and archaeologists from the Bureau of Indian Affairs to obtain clearances that reflected the pueblo's desire to protect natural resources and cultural and religious areas.

Last year, the project received another boon when the tribe was awarded a $2.2 million infrastructure grant.

"The thought of buying a home — or even keeping up with rising rent payments — feels out of reach for too many. We need to change that," Heinrich said in a statement. "This investment is an important step toward meeting that goal, connecting Taos Pueblo with federal resources ... will give more families a safe and secure place to call home and a foundation for a better future."

Homeownership is a privilege for hundreds of years denied to struggling tribal members and builds generational wealth, said U.S. Rep. Teresa Leger Fernández, D-N.M.

"This important investment will help make that a reality for Taos Pueblo families," she said.