Housing to Accompany Albuquerque Rail Yards Development says Construction Reporter
Industry: Real Estate
The Master Plan for development of the Albuquerque Rail Yards has been approved and plans are underway for construction, which will include at least 30 new housing units.
Albuquerque, NM (PRUnderground) October 15th, 2014
The historic Albuquerque Rail Yards, which are in planning for redevelopment as soon as 2016, is located adjacent to Barelas, a working class community of 3,700 that will see new housing as a component of the development. When the Rail Yards were operational, they provided essential jobs to Barelas residents.
The City of Albuquerque and Samitour Constructs, the California-based construction firm selected to redevelop the 27-acre Rail Yards, agreed that at least 30 housing units would be included in the overall Master Plan, which was approved in the winter of 2011.
“We’re very excited about the redevelopment and happy about the housing component,” says Angelica Solares, the executive director of the Barelas Community Coalition, a group which has promoted the housing agreement. The hope is that housing will be a reality in the first stages of developement.
Former State Senator Eric Griego, former member of the the Rail Yards Advisory Board, makes it clear that the housing must not be high-end lofts that people of the community cannot afford, thus affecting gentrification in the community.
The Atlantic and Pacific Railroad Rail Yards were opened in 1880. They powered the the economy of Barelas and the larger Albuquerque community. By the mid 1940’s they employed more than 1,500 workers including brake operators, yardmasters, blacksmiths, and dispatchers. .
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