El Camino Crossing is a planned mixed-use development that is transforming a vacant parcel in a disinvested neighborhood in Santa Fe into 75 residential and live/work units complemented by a total of 8,300 square feet of commercial space for offices and retail.  With $13M in NMTC allocation, Homewise completed Phases 1 & 2 of this project - 40 new homes and 13 condominium units. The total estimated cost of this project is $21M, including $3M for commercial space and $18M for residential development. 

El Camino Crossing is located in the struggling Corazon Santo neighborhood along one of Santa Fe's older roads.  The MFI is 49.20% and more than 34% of residents live under the federal poverty line.  Despite some recent positive changes in the area, the progress is tenuous. There are still many vacant parcels and businesses, and buildings in poor condition. The momentum of improvement must continue in order to help tip this neighborhood over the finish line and lift it out of its distressed status. The El Camino Crossing Project is a major addition to local development efforts by providing both residential and commercial space.   Its impacts are multifaceted: providing more affordable housing in a high-cost city, transforming a blighted parcel into productive use, and providing an economic development boost to a distressed area.

Homewise used its Qualified Low-Income Community Investments () to build Phase 1 (20 affordable single-family homes) and Phase 2 (20 affordable single-family homes and 13 live-work condominiums) of its El Camino Crossing project. The site of a vacant former mobile home park, this development has helped revitalize a blighted area in the city. The homes’ construction cost averages $226,000, but the average sale price was $214,000. The NMTC funding was necessary to subsidize the sale price and make these homes affordable for buyers in an area where the MFI is $25,704. Homewise has committed to selling at least 20% of the homes funded with NMTC financing to individuals with an income at or below 80% of the median family income. Through December 2019, that commitment has been exceeded, with one third of homes sold to buyers below 80% AMI (area median income).

A premiere nonprofit U.S. housing developer, Homewise is a member of The Housing Partnership Network (HPN). As a member, Homewise was able to access two of HPN’s NMTC allocations (received in Rounds 13 and 14 collaborating with Smith NMTC on its applications) to develop the El Camino project and to maximize its impact for low-income homebuyers.

Read more about this project here.