Plans for new housing and apartment construction in Carlsbad and Eddy County moved forward in October, government officials said.
A mixture of subdivisions and apartment complexes were in the works earlier this month at various locations in the Carlsbad City Limits, said Mayor Dale Janway.
He said the Arrowstone Apartments at Hidalgo Road and Boyd Drive were valued at $13 million and the Carlsbad Apartments at 301 West Chapman Road were valued at $14 million.
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The housing developments are not limited to the Carlsbad area as the Eddy County Board of County Commissioners approved a preliminary plat on Oct. 19 for nearly 80 acres of property north of Artesia.
JFD Enterprises and Huitt-Zollars engineering drew up plans to develop nearly 12 lots of property for single family residential homes off of U.S Highway 285, read Eddy County Planning Department documents.
Eddy County Community Services Assistant Director Steve McCrosskey said a preliminary plat clears the way for construction to start.
He did not offer a timeline on when construction would begin.
“That is subjective to the developer,” he said.
McCrosskey said once development finishes. County commissioners would approve the final plat for the Arbor Estates Subdivision.
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The subdivisions and apartment complexes came at a good time said Carlsbad Department of Development (CDOD) Executive Director John Waters.
A study commissioned by CDOD for Carlsbad and southern Eddy County found traffic returned to pre-COVID-19 levels in recent months.
“We’re seeing a lot of activity (and) a lot of folks are back working,” he said. “I noticed as I traveled last week around some of the man camps, a lot of them are starting to fill up again.”
Waters said oil and gas activity increased Eddy and Lea counties and three counties in West Texas.
“There is a significant amount of activity going on right now within the oil and gas production area. We’re seeing a lot of interest in processing plants,” he said.
Waters said as oil and gas activity increases in the Carlsbad area, housing is one of many needs for workers and their families.
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“Certainly, we prefer those folks to come in and live in Eddy County and bring their families up here and take advantage of all the things Eddy County and New Mexico have to offer. Housing would be necessary for that,” he said.
Waters said as more oil and gas workers come to Carlsbad and Eddy County, the need for housing would not cease.
“It’s good to see more families coming and need places to live in Eddy County, I think that helps everybody out,” he said.
Eddy County’s unemployment rate for September was 5.1 percent, according to data from the New Mexico Department of Workforce Connections. New Mexico’s unemployment rate was 5.8 percent.
Mike Smith can be reached at 575-628-5546 or by email at [email protected] or @ArgusMichae on Twitter.
