Housing Restart

Tierra Contenta developers to host multiple community meetings on the Southside for public input on plans

The Southside Library will host four one-hour meetings on Thursday and Friday for the public to weigh in on the upcoming third phase of the massive Tierra Contenta development. 

The Housing Trust, which oversees the project, wants to give residents and neighbors of the development a chance to air a host of concerns they've raised as the development has drawn nearer. Among those that will have a chance for resolution:  adding more green space and parking, more environmentally-friendly homes and decreasing traffic in the neighborhood.

The developers likely won’t be able to alleviate every worry.
Santa Feans want “more employment opportunities, which is something we won’t be able to address, or at least very successfully … There has been some feedback for more business employers within Tierra Contenta but we don’t really see that as a feasible path forward,” says Justin Robison,  executive director of The Housing Trust.
The developers, non-profit Tierra Contenta Corp., and its parent company The Housing Trust, will present their plans for the third phase at this week’s meetings. The future 1,150 homes and rental units will be on previously undeveloped land southwest of Capital High School. 
A brand new elementary school, trails, a large park, multiple pocket parks and a “smaller scale” version of Genoveva Chavez Community Center are all in the plans, although any community center would have to be decided on by the city, according to Robison. 
Despite recently rekindled discussions about consolidating and shutting down schools in Santa Fe, Robison tells SFR that the Santa Fe Public School District is still interested in putting a school into the third phase. 
“Tierra Contenta has been a part of the demographic shift in Santa Fe,” Robison says. “A lot of the children in Santa Fe live in Tierra Contenta. While schools are closing on the east side, there are more demands for schools on this side of town.” 
Robison says the school would probably serve kindergartners through eighth graders, but it’s yet to be decided. 
The third phase of construction is still a ways in the future. Developers hope to have the master plan approved in the early part of 2020, then start on the infrastructure no later than early 2021. They hope to start building homes in early 2022.

The meetings will be held on Thursday, Nov. 7 at 5 pm and 6 pm—and on Saturday, Nov. 9 at 1 pm and 2 pm. Spanish translators will be available. (Habrá traductores de español disponibles.)

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