Albuquerque, New Mexico: Affordable Housing Serves Deaf People and Families

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Albuquerque, New Mexico: Affordable Housing Serves Deaf People and Families

 

More than 14 years ago, the Deaf Culture Center of New Mexico (DCCNM) conceived of an affordable housing development designed for the deaf, deafblind, and hard of hearing community. DCCNM applied several times to create this type of housing, but it was not until it brought in nonprofit Sol Housing as a development partner that the project received the needed tax credit allocations. DCCNM and Sol Housing formed a joint venture and opened PAH! Hiland Plaza, the largest housing development in the nation serving the deaf community, in 2023. The development, which consists of 92 units serving families and individuals, received the Urban Land Institute’s Terwilliger Center Award for Innovation in Attainable Housing in 2024.

PAH! Hiland Plaza

Located along historic Route 66, PAH! Hiland Plaza consists of one-, two-, and three-bedroom apartments serving households at varying income levels, including 29 units for households earning no more than 30 percent of area median income (AMI), 17 units for households earning between 30 and 60 percent of AMI, 29 units for households earning between 61 and 80 percent of AMI, and 16 units for households earning between 81 and 120 percent of AMI. One unit is set aside to house property staff as needed. On the ground floor, resident amenities include a pet-washing station, bicycle storage, and a computer lab. The second floor features a resident lounge and community room with a full kitchen.

The wings of the L-shaped building flank a secured resident parking lot that doubles as a recreational area. This area includes photovoltaic carports and electric vehicle charging stations, a walking loop, a court for futsal (a soccer variant with five-person teams and a smaller playing field), a dog park, and a sensory play area designed for children of all ages. The exterior design reflects the architectural styles of the surrounding Nob Hill district, with stucco finishes, curved corners, and metal awnings.

Designing for Deaf Culture

DCCNM and Sol Housing demonstrated their commitment to creating a living environment for Deaf culture through both the leasing strategy and physical design of the space. Instead of reserving a fixed number of units for people living with a disability, each apartment has built-in accessibility features. The leasing preference prioritizes households with a deaf, deafblind, or hard of hearing family member. This approach allowed the team to avoid arbitrarily limiting the number of deaf households served while still ensuring that they had priority access to the units.

Sol Housing architect Miriam Hicks describes this approach as a more thoughtful model. Unlike many developments that unintentionally isolate residents with disabilities by offering only one or two accessible units, PAH! Hiland Plaza is a mixed hearing and nonhearing community, which, explained Hicks, “is the best type of community to serve everyone’s needs, because you’ve got households where one parent is deaf or one family member is deaf, but not everybody [in the household] is deaf."

A Community for Deaf Culture

This philosophy extends beyond leasing policies and into the physical design of the apartments and shared spaces. Each unit follows universal design principles and prioritizes deaf accessibility. Hicks explained that the design team’s core consideration was visibility, because deaf individuals tend to rely more heavily on eyesight for communication. As a result, each unit includes task lighting under kitchen cabinets, dimmable LED lights to reduce glare and eyestrain, and open floorplans with clear sightlines. To maximize safety, alarm systems engage multiple senses in addition to the traditional audible alerts. For example, the units’ smoke detectors and doorbells include strobe lights in addition to the standard audible alerts.

By centering the design of PAH! Hiland Plaza around the lived experiences of deaf individuals, who sometimes rely on nonverbal communication, the design team created units and common areas that support visibility, ease of interaction, and autonomy. Rounded tables and curved seat walls throughout the site help maintain clear sightlines so that residents can see one another as they communicate. In the lounge areas and leasing office, telecoil induction loops stream a high-quality audio feed to residents with compatible hearing aids and cochlear implants. The rounded edges of the furniture also support accessibility in navigation and reduce the risk of injury. Hicks emphasized that focusing the design on residents’ nonverbal communication needs resulted in a more supportive built environment for the residents. For example, the rounded tables and open gathering spaces are important for face-to face interactions in which sign language and lipreading are necessary and facilitate social interaction among residents. The seating in the community room wraps around all sides of the central kitchen island, where residents participate in group gatherings, potlucks, and technology training sessions. Adjacent to the community room is a self-selection food pantry that supports residents’ autonomy in their dietary choices.

The development team proactively addressed the potential challenges of language barriers and social isolation by integrating American Sign Language (ASL)-fluent service provision. Onsite, an ASL-fluent enrichment services coordinator facilitates events and programs to support residents. Native ASL speakers provide cardiopulmonary resuscitation training, teen programming, and tutoring for students with various levels of hearing ability. Additional ASL-fluent service providers support residents in health screenings, healthcare enrollment, and access to nutrition education. DCCNM’s offices are on the ground floor of the property and offer Deaf services, community events, and a business incubator.

Financing

Sol Housing created a community to serve extremely low-, very low-, and low-income households using a capital stack of public and private funding. The $23.8 million project drew funding from HUD’s HOME Investment Partnerships program and community development block grant funds from the city of Albuquerque. Raymond James Affordable Housing Investments purchased more than $14 million in 9 percent low-income housing tax credits, which made up most of the financing. Private funding sources included a $3.9 million loan from PNC Bank and a grant from DCCNM.

Changing Perceptions

Named after the historic Hiland Theatre and the ASL expression “PAH!” meaning “finally” or “success,” the development celebrates the culmination of the dream that DCCNM envisioned more than 10 years ago. PAH! Hiland Plaza is a community that, as Hicks explained, “is just so important because [residents] are at ease to be able to talk with each other without that strain of being understood that they feel anywhere outside of their housing.” After years of rejection by neighborhoods that once opposed this type of community, PAH! Hiland Plaza exists as an affirmation of Deaf culture.