It isn’t just the coasts or oil boom areas that are in need of quality, affordable housing.

While places such as California, New York, Chicago or the latest energy find may attract more headlines, an economic development office in Arizona has reached out to inform MHProNews, that they have a pressing need, with a strong local workforce.

They also state their promising long-term business and tourism opportunities.

Their recent communique opens, “Greetings from Greenlee County, Arizona. As you may know, I represent the economic and community development interests of Greenlee County, AZ.”

“One of those interests is to provide a safe and healthy place for residents to live, work and play. But we are also interested in showcasing why Greenlee is a tourism destination.  Jobs are abundant, the Morenci Copper Mine is currently undergoing an expansion which is adding over 250 new full time positions to their employee roster and the private sector is doing very well,” said the statement.

“Generally, for every 2 FT mine employees a FT support person is also needed. These support jobs are most often filled by contractors and subcontractors. While the Townsite of Morenci (which is a company town) does offer rental homes to employees there is an insufficient number of units to fulfill current employee demand,” the statement said.

“At last check there were 413 families on the waiting list for housing, over 200 of them have been on the list about 2 years,” per Ákos Kovach, Economic Development Coordinator for Greenlee County, Arizona.

“Add to the list of home seekers above the demand by contractors, subcontractors, as well as other members of our community and you can begin to identify the crucial nature of our housing shortage.”

“The available housing inventory (homes for sale or rent) equals less than 15 homes county-wide,” the economic development coordinator said. “Half of these homes require considerable repairs to be habitable, while all the others require some work as well. There are precious few rentals anywhere in the county. A 1 bed, 1 bath unit rents for up to $900.00 per month plus utilities.”

“There is ample buildable land available; some of this land is shovel ready. In my role as a facilitator, I often take interested parties on a tour of all available land sites and points of interest. Furthermore, providing contact information for the owners/sellers of these parcels is within my area of support. Consider my office as a resource. It should also be noted the county is restricted by law – we cannot and do not ‘give away land’ or offer incentives that violate state statutes. Also, Arizona is the only state that does not have a TIF program. All that aside, there are many ways to support expansion and development such as deferred tax payments that can be discussed,” per Kovach’s Greenlee County communique.

“One question that often comes up when discussing the challenges of staging a large-scale development operation is manpower. Fortunately, we have a workforce available both from the region of Arizona in which we are located and also from our neighbors in New Mexico. Our county, Greenlee County, is situated in Southeastern Arizona along the border with New Mexico. Finding the people needed to use heavy equipment, pour cement, lay foundations, assemble parts or move multi-sectional housing is available,” the statement said.

“What we are seeking to accomplish is both a short term and long-term solution to our housing crises. Homes for sale are greatly needed. Also, there is an additional opportunity for rental homes – single family and multi-family. An important side note: we have no apartment inventory available in the county,” he said.

“Many families in the area have been surveyed and the majority need a 3-4 bedroom home with 2 baths. Recently a motel feasibility study was conducted by an independent third party – this study is attached. In addition to housing, we have a huge need for motel rooms,” see that download, linked here.

Apart from the YouTube video posted by the Daily Business News, and photos of the economic development coordinator and the county seal, the graphics shown above on this post are from that feasibility study.

“The Morenci mining operation is the largest economic engine in the region, a billion-dollar annual juggernaut that has proven reserves at current production levels to produce copper ore for another 75 years. We have land available, a supportive government that is business friendly, the lowest tax rate anywhere in Arizona and yet we have had little success in attracting the right builders and or developers to the area,” he said.

“I look forward to further discussions on this topic and would be happy to contact professionals that might be a good fit to fill the gap in this  housing shortage. We are open to dialogue with off-site, pre-cut, modular, prefab, manufactured home, and similar home construction methods.

Many thanks!

Ákos Kovach

Economic Development Coordinator

Greenlee County, Arizona

928-865-2072 x 202”

Interested parties are encouraged to contact the Greenlee County, AZ economic development coordinator directly, at the phone number above. ## (News, media release.)

 

(Image credits are as shown above, and when provided by third parties, are shared under fair use guidelines.)

Submitted by Soheyla Kovach to the Daily Business News for MHProNews.com.