City official says El Paso's housing incentives underutilized, seeks greater awareness
The City of El Paso said it provides incentives for those wanting to build housing in the city, incentives that one city official said are not being used.
On Tuesday, the city council gave its final approval for a nearly million-dollar housing complex, using city tax rebates to help get the project moving. The tax help is part of a development plan to attract investment to El Paso.
"So more inner, downtown, uptown, some of your old areas, five points, kind of anything pre-1950s is generally going to qualify for any investment over $50,000," said Karina Brasgalla, Interim Director for Economic and International Development for the City of El Paso.
Brasgalla touted the Infill Development Incentive Policy, which gives tax and fee rebates up front to those building or upsizing multi-unit complexes.
"It is targeted at vacant or underutilized parcels. So that's anything so from a vacant lot where it's just dirt or a vacant building that may be empty, but also for things that aren't being used at their kind of full capacity," said Brasgalla.
An empty lot in West El Paso is due to go from completely barren to hosting 12 apartment units and 12 parking spots. That is nearly identical to the apartments built right next to it - Lola Apartments - using the same developer and the same tax incentives. It would cost the city $26,790 in initial reimbursed taxes but they insist they would gain more than that in the long run. And they want developers to be aware of the current program and potentially expand it next year.
Brasgalla said the policy is used between 10-15 times a year, much less than the city would like. She thinks it's due to a lack of awareness.
"So we have a few users that come in pretty regularly and use that most folks don't know that it exists. So we don't get as much utilization as we'd like, and it is really for smaller developments. And so a lot of those kind of proceed without knowing that this is a benefit that's available to them," Brasgalla said.
Brasgalla wants every El Pasoan and out-of-towner interested in such projects to know about the program,
If you're looking at redeveloping an existing building anywhere in the city, I would encourage folks to come in and talk to us. If we can't, if it doesn't qualify for this program, we have a number of other programs with other types of assistance that we offer.She's looking to expand the program sometime in 2025.
"You will see in the coming year, we are looking at expanding that program, focusing on specific types of development, like housing in particular, and really trying to kind of enrich that program and make it more useful for folks," Brasgalla said.
While the city currently offers rebates for construction materials, property taxes, and permit fees, Brasgalla wants to go even further to bring in more housing to the city.
"Increasing the ability for certain types of upfront development assistance, specifically focusing on utilities, which we know are a huge issue on the interior of the city. In terms of housing, there are a number of different sorts of financial mechanisms that both the state and the federal government have put in place in recent years, and so looking at how we can better leverage those programs and maybe adopt some of those mechanisms locally."
The program would also include the preservation of historic buildings downtown.
Brasgalla said the city will launch an advertising blitz if approved by an incoming City Council in 2025, but if you want to see incentives currently offered by the program, visit their .
The president and CEO of the El Paso Chamber chimed in regarding the incentive.
In a written statement, Ricardo Mora said the Chamber supports policies such as this one as it attracts new investments to the borderland.
