Bloomfield set for new-housing boom, Arizona real estate
BLOOMFIELD — “If you build it, they will come.”
This quote, borrowed from the 1989 film “Field of Dreams,” has become a business motto for Ray Barnes, Bloomfield’s Planning and Zoning director and economic developer. Charged with enticing more businesses and residents into the city, Barnes has gone after developers of affordable housing — a luxury that, until recently, was not available in Bloomfield.
“We need housing, and it needs to be affordable,” he said. “Businesses and housing go hand in hand. It’s hard to attract businesses to Bloomfield when you have no housing.”
A dozen new businesses have cropped up in Bloomfield during the past year, Barnes said. To stay ahead, the city has approved the construction of about 200 new homes. More than half of the homes will fall into the affordable housing category — priced at about $180,000, Barnes said. Construction of the 1,200- to 1,400-square-foot homes in three new subdivisions opens the city’s first market for diverse affordable housing.
Bloomfield doesn’t charge an impact fee, which makes land attractive for business and residential developers, Barnes said. With the addition of affordable housing, the city hopes to attract more young professionals and diversify its work force.
“Developers are seeing the potential,” he said, “and it’s becoming a better deal to live in Bloomfield.”
With population growing at a 4-percent rate every year and available land in surrounding areas becoming scarce, the city is braced to welcome more businesses, City Manager Keith Johnson said. In addition, more businesses means more housing.
“We’re trying to meet the (housing) needs of the main industries — oil and gas,” he said, “but our long-range goal is to bring in other companies that will help diversify the city.”
At the July 23 meeting, the Bloomfield City Council approved construction at the 27-lot Standing Stone subdivision on West Blanco and the sale of a 14.5-acre plot on East Blanco, which will yield an additional 90 to 120 homes. The city also recently approved construction of the first 15 of 64 affordable homes in the San de Cristo subdivision off East Broadway, Barnes said.
Houses also are going up in two of the city’s existing subdivisions. Valley View Estates is building its final phase of housing — 28 new houses priced at about $230,000. The Escondido subdivision, which caters to first-time home buyers, is building its second phase — 20 homes priced between $120,000 and $150,000.
More affordable housing also means changes to Bloomfield’s landscape, Barnes said. As more single-family dwellings become available, more people are choosing them over mobile homes. In fiscal year 2003-2004, the city granted permits for 64 mobile homes and only 10 site-built homes, Barnes said. By contrast, in fiscal year 2005-2006, the city granted permits for 17 mobile homes and 52 site-built homes.
“When you move in, you get what you can afford,” he said. “By offering affordable homes, we’re allowing people to come in and build long-term housing — housing that will last.”