The Lamplighter Inn motel in Santa Fe, New Mexico. later this month will be converted into affordable housing, including one-quarter for the homeless.
The motel sits at 2405 Cerrillos Road (aka old Route 66) and has operated there since 1962.
The Santa Fe New Mexican reported:
Earlier in the year, Lamplighter Inn owners Parul and Anna Patel put word out they were willing to sell the 80-unit property, and Anchorum St. Vincent was putting out feelers for hotels to purchase.
Ever since, Anchorum and the S3 Working Group have been ironing out details and negotiating to acquire the Lamplighter property, which has buildings dating as far back as 1962, the year the Lamplighter opened.
The sale is expected to close in later January, but many details are still a work in progress, such as who would actually own the property in its new role, said Marisol Atkins, a consultant brought on by the New Mexico Coalition to End Homelessness. […]
The coalition and more than a dozen entities make up the S3 Working Group. S3 stands for safe, secure and stable. Members include development partner JL Gray and The Life Link, which will provide behavioral health services for tenants.
Santa Fe County, Anchorum St. Vincent, the state of New Mexico and the Interfaith Community Shelter are also in the working group. The county in December committed $1.5 million to the purchase of the Lamplighter, and the city of Santa Fe in January will consider adding $3 million from the Affordable Housing Trust Fund and American Rescue Plan funds.
The newspaper reports the working group also bought Santa Fe Suites motel in another part of town about a year ago and converted it into affordable housing, as well.
Affordable housing long has been an issue in Santa Fe. BestPlaces.net reports the median cost for a home in the city is $470,000, which is almost double what it costs in Albuquerque just 60 miles away.
The Santa Fe Reporter also said Santa Fe has a shortage of apartments, and the city’s number of homeless people rose to more than 700 this month.
Santa Fe was part of Route 66 from 1926 to 1938, when the highway was rerouted due west of Santa Rosa to Albuquerque.
(Image of the Lamplighter Inn in Santa Fe, New Mexico, via Mapquest excerpt)