Mission & Goals
The Downtown Albuquerque Civic Trust (the Trust) was incorporated in October 2003 by an alliance of funders, community groups and businesses concerned about the potential gentrification of Downtown Albuquerque. The mission of the Trust is to:
Ensure diversity and social responsibility in Albuquerque’s Downtown revitalization efforts by providing affordable housing through a variety of development, sponsorship, ownership and financing strategies, and secondarily, by assisting in the development of affordable commercial, arts and public spaces that enhance Downtown Albuquerque’s quality of life and increase its vitality.
Although recently formed, the Trust is well supported by the City of Albuquerque, local community groups and local foundations. This is a direct reflection of the inclusive planning process used to form the Trust. Under the leadership of the Enterprise Foundation, dozens of community groups committed to a two and a half year process of consensus building to help create this organization. Current sponsors of this new organization include the Ford Foundation, the McCune Foundation, and the Enterprise Foundation.
According to the Trust’s by-laws, the business purpose of the Civic Trust is to ensure diversity and social responsibility in Albuquerque’s Downtown revitalization efforts in and near the designated urban redevelopment area known as the Alvarado Transportation Redevelopment Area in Downtown Albuquerque, New Mexico. The Trust’s service area includes the redevelopment area and neighboring census tracts (13, 14,15, 20, 21, 22, 25, 26 and 27).
The Trust’s principal activity is to provide affordable housing through a variety of development, sponsorship, ownership and financing strategies. It secondary activity is to assist with development of affordable commercial, arts and public spaces that enhance Downtown Albuquerque’s quality of life and increase its vitality.
The vision of the Trust, developed by the stakeholders group that incorporated the organization and still guides the organization today, implies the following outcomes:
- A vibrant, attractive, safe and walkable Downtown Albuquerque.
- Mixed-use, mixed income residential and commercial space that is occupied by people who reflect the social, cultural and economic diversity of New Mexico.
- A Downtown connected by a network of open spaces, plazas, parks and playgrounds that encourage pedestrian traffic and social interaction.
- A Downtown that is integrated with and positively impacts the surrounding neighborhoods.
- A Downtown economy that provides business and employment opportunities that enable the diverse population to live and conduct business.
Specific goals for the Trust that implement the organization’s vision are:
- To develop affordable housing opportunities, both rental and homeownership,
- To facilitate mixed-use developments that are financially successful, environmentally responsible, and aesthetically pleasing,
- To leverage new resources for Downtown revitalization efforts, both public and private,
- To strengthen the role of the public sector in affordable housing and commercial developments in the Trust’s service area,
- To identify policy issues and suggest changes that will help facilitate revitalization efforts in the Trust’s service area, and
- To build capacity of nonprofits engaged in community development.
