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International District Choice Neigborhood

Choice Neighborhood in the News

Thank you to KRQE News for sharing with the community the work about the International District Choice Neighborhood Plan.




International District could see major public housing transformation with federal grant

Posted: Oct 14, 2025 / 06:47 PM MDT

Updated: Oct 15, 2025 / 05:29 AM MDT


ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (KRQE) –Some Albuquerque apartment buildings built in the 1970s are at the center of a new plan that could deliver millions of dollars to help transform the International District.


Albuquerque City Councilor Nichole Rogers (District 6) has been working with neighbors on this idea for more than a year to redesign three public housing complexes. “How do we build differently and give folks, they want: walkability. They want safety. They want green space. They want play areas. They want gardening opportunities,” said Councilor Rogers. “It was really cool just to see the different perspectives of what people want in their developments and giving them the power to dream about what they want—is really exciting to me.”


The project is called the Choice Neighborhood Initiative. Since spring 2024, the city has used a federal grant to come up with a plan for revitalizing the Wainwright Manor on Gibson Blvd. and the Grove and Pennsylvania apartments in the Trumbull neighborhood. They’ve gathered input from the residents living at the apartments, community members, and city and county agencies to map out a new vision for public housing.

The group focused on three pillars: neighborhood, housing, and people. They’re not focused on just sprucing up the buildings, but adding safety and social service partnerships, like with the Albuquerque Housing Authority, to help get residents on a path to homeownership.  


“We know that there’s mechanisms within HUD, with our permanent supportive vouchers, those could be transferred to homeownership, and nobody is doing that in New Mexico. So that’s something that I want to see us do—is actually help folks get from public housing to homeownership,” said Councilor Rogers. “And it can be done there’s already mechanisms for this. So that’s the exciting future of this work.”


Councilor Rogers said more plans to enhance residents’ lives include involving entrepreneurial and financial empowerment opportunities.  The three complexes would be torn down and completely rebuilt, this time with a variety of apartments, houses, and townhomes.


This would also bring more units, a factor very important to Councilor Rogers. “This project will allow us to add units to what’s already existing, which is so important when we talk about homelessness and housing; we need to build housing for folks who can’t necessarily pay for it,” said Councilor Rogers. 


The next step is to submit the plan to the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). If HUD approves their plan, Councilor Rogers is hoping the city could get up to $60 million to implement it. 


Councilor Rogers said she’s hopeful that they will get the funding, despite federal grant funding becoming less accessible since the Trump Administration. =“I’m hopeful. We haven’t seen this particular funding from HUD go away nationally yet. And so I’m going to keep the positive vibes,” she said, crossing her fingers for good luck.


She emphasized the program’s potential to revitalize communities.


“This is about transforming neighborhoods and if you want to transform neighborhoods, this is the vehicle to do that through HUD. So I’m going to keep doing business as usual and making all the asks, and see how it goes.”


Councilor Rogers said the city hasn’t built new public housing since the early 1990s.

She will join other project leaders on Saturday at the International District Library at 3 p.m. for a last round of public input on the final plan before it gets submitted.


Councilor Rogers said that if the plan gets put into action, no residents will be displaced, and they will likely relocate to a new complex that will be built before any demolition begins.



 
 
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