Funding for the project comes from the sale of two “surplus” properties owned by the City of Albuquerque. The two tracts of land being sold for the project were originally purchased for the purpose of expanding affordable housing initiatives within the City of Albuquerque. The appropriated funding can be used for the purchase of land, structure acquisition, relocation, demolition, project management, new construction and renovation of existing properties used in affordable housing development.

“I am extremely excited about this project and the many others aimed at bringing new, ownership-based housing to the Trumbull Village neighborhood,” said Heinrich. “Trumbull has been challenged by a disproportionate percentage of rental housing units; this appropriation will contribute to the number of families invested in the well-being of their surrounding community because they own their homes there and are there to stay,” said Heinrich.

The Trumbull Village Neighborhood, built during the middle of the 20th Century, has seen significant drops in criminal activity over recent years and many residential and commercial revitalization efforts including this project. The Talin International Marketplace, a vibrant locally-owned grocery store forms the neighborhood’s northwest corner and a mixed-use redevelopment project (commercial and housing) will soon be built next-door upon the former Blue Spruce Lounge lot. Traffic diverters built to address criminal traffic during the 1980s have now been beautified with the help of neighborhood input and funding from Councilor Heinrich’s capital set-aside. The Trumbull Village Neighborhood Association’s “Neighbor to Neighbor” program regularly helps to keep streets and properties throughout the neighborhood clean, through employing neighborhood residents for day-to-day work.

Councilor Heinrich is also moving forward an update of the Near Heights Metropolitan Redevelopment Area Plan, the community-driven plan which originally helped initiate planning for many of the revitalization efforts now realized in the Talin International Village Marketplace development and its unique surrounding landscape.