In a renewed effort to build new housing in blighted areas in New Mexico, legislation has been approved to extend the tax incentive time period for such work.
Senate Bill 58 has now been signed into law by Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham and will provide a new window allowing for properties to be taxed at a pre-development phase.
In so doing, the law will amend the Metropolitan Redevelopment Code extending property tax incentives from a seven-year time frame to 15 years.
The code is the child of the Metropolitan Redevelopment Act which authorizes municipalities and counties to address “blight, underutilization, or conditions that impair economic development.”
According to an analysis of the bill by the New Mexico Legislative Finance Committee the measure continues the ability of local governments to “acquire property and lease project property to private users to implement redevelopment projects.”
In a statement, Terry Brunner, director of the City of Albuquerque’s Redevelopment Agency, said the legislation will give “communities and developers more time to make projects work.”
“Redevelopment often takes years of planning and construction,” added Brunner.
Set to take effect in May, the legislation is seen as a vital tool for spurring investment and building new and needed housing in designated blighted areas. The benefits also apply to the renovation of existing houses in those areas.
According to the Albuquerque Journal, the blighted area tax incentives program has spurred the building of upwards of 350 new homes in just the last three years.
March 12, 2026
By Garry Boulard
Photo courtesy of Pixabay
