Vista de Socorro is ahead of schedule

Since breaking ground in February, construction of much-needed housing for the county’s low-income and special-needs residents has been proceeding on schedule. Jeff Curry, Director of Development for JL Gray Construction, said he expects the Vista de Socorro apartments to open for residents in April 2025.

Along with the El Camino Real Housing Authority, JL Gray is a co-developer for the project. The project team also includes Project Moxie and Ethos Development.

“The construction, originally scheduled for 15 months, may be finished a little ahead of time. Contractors said that they’re ahead of schedule, which is great news,” Curry said. “The contractor prepares the ground, gets the plumbing in place, and places the slab down. They’re finishing up rough carpentry now that it’s starting to dry in the buildings, so the windows will go on next. We’re really not scheduled to be finished until May of next year, but we hope to be a little ahead of that.”

Initially conceived in 2019, Curry said funding had to be secured and in place before breaking ground.

“We had a lot of delays dealing with funding before we could really move forward,” he said. “Regulations changed and there was just a lot of difficulty getting everything lined up and then when we finally did now we’re racing forward to get it completed.

“And I guess the pandemic didn’t help either,” he said.

There was a gap between the original project cost estimate and the current cost estimate due to the increase in the cost of lumber and building materials.

“Costs went up incredibly during the pandemic, so we ended up getting money from sources specifically to address COVID to fill our gaps from any shortfalls.”

JL Gray specializes in affordable housing and is developing managed properties in five states.

Located near Socorro High School, Socorro General Hospital, and Socorro Mental Health, the apartment building will offer subsidized rent and services on-site to help stabilize residents. The services, managed by Socorro County, will include case management, job coaching, life skills programming, free transportation, a food pantry, and substance abuse counseling.

“It’s a large apartment complex—one building with two wings, a community area in between, and three offices for management and the Housing Authority in the center,” said Mary Ann Chavez Lopez, director of El Camino Real Housing Authority.

In addition to the one and two bedroom apartments, the complex will feature a garden, playground, food pantry, solar array, and laundry facilities for the residents.

Seven units will be set aside for special needs populations, which include people who have experienced homelessness, people who may have been incarcerated, or people with disabilities.

“Why do we need this? Because we have a homeless population in our area,” Chavez Lopez said. So, it’s really a solution to homelessness.

“We’re just hoping that they’ll be ready to be housed while we finish the apartments. That means they will have to be selected using criteria that we develop.”

The rent for all of the apartments will be subsidized using housing vouchers connected to the project. “We have a large waiting list,” she said. The entire property is income-restricted. The rental agreement is based on income and other factors.

Lopez Chavez said the effort is being made possible by partnering with the City of Socorro, Socorro County, Housing NM-MFA, the State of New Mexico through the Casa Connection Governor’s Grant, JL Gray Construction, Ethos Development, Project Moxie, Integrated Design, and Representative Tara Jaramillo.

“Thank you all for your hard work in making this dream come true.”