NewLife Homes won a prestigious award last month for converting the historic but previously run-down Luna Lodge motel on Route 66 in Albuquerque into low-income housing, despite numerous obstacles, reported the Albuquerque Journal.
NewLife earned the honor at the Novogradac Journal of Tax Credits Historic Rehabilitation Awards Luncheon in Detroit. The newspaper reported:
Luna Lodge at 9119 Central NE, a Route 66 hotel built in 1949, won first place in the “Historic Development that Overcame Significant Obstacles” category. The $4.8 million project converted the hotel into 30 apartments for low-income individuals, many of whom have disabilities. […]
The “serious obstacles” NewLife overcame included a legal challenge over zoning that went all the way to the Court of Appeals, a mid-project change in ownership of the contractor and meeting requirements for top-level green certification with a historic renovation, the luncheon program said.
The Luna Lodge project also needed “to be financed without permanent debt so that the rental units would be available for those most in need,” according to the program.
NewLife executive director John Bloomfield said in an email:
“Luna Lodge was only made possible with city workforce funding (leveraging $3.2m. of out-of-state private investment), collaboration with numerous city departments and state agencies, and a lot of blood, sweat, and tears from too many stakeholders to mention.”
NewLife also is renovating the Sundowner Motel in Albuquerque, also on Route 66, into low-income apartments. The Sundowner, believed to have been built in the late 1940s, was where Bill Gates and Paul Allen lived while launching Microsoft.
(Image of the Luna Lodge sign by Rambling Vegans via Flickr)