Sol Housing, in partnership with the Deaf Culture Center of New Mexico, has created Albuquerque’s first multifamily housing designed with and for the Deaf community.
The 92-unit PAH! Hiland Plaza provides equitable and sustainable homes with a leasing preference for households with a deaf, deaf-blind, or hard-of-hearing member. The development includes one-, two-, and three-bedroom units for households earning between 30% and 80% of the area median income; the Albuquerque Housing Authority also awarded 23 project-based vouchers to the project. In addition, the Deaf Culture Center has established a permanent home on the ground floor of the building.
“This has been the most rewarding project we have worked on in our organization’s 30-plus years of building a better Albuquerque,” says Sol Housing executive director Felipe Rael, noting that PAH! is an expression in American Sign Language (ASL) that means “success” or “finally.” “Not only [are we] providing 92 beautiful homes for individuals and families but dedicated offices and meeting space that is now home for the Deaf Culture Center, with accessible space for community events.”
Sol also met a goal of hiring 50% of the project’s staff who are deaf or fluent in ASL. Rael says it was achieved by hiring a leasing assistant and maintenance technician who are both deaf and an enrichment services coordinator who is fluent in ASL; in addition, the property manager is learning ASL.
The $23.8 million PAH! Hiland Plaza was designed by Hartman + Majewski Design Group, with deaf architect Chris Hoffman as a consultant. Features include open floor plans with lots of natural light and energy-efficient lighting that controls the glare; wider hallways that allow two people communicating in ASL to walk side by side; a video entry system to allow visual communication for guests and deliveries; added power and data ports for video phones; and induction loops that feed sounds into hearing aids.
“[The residents] are especially grateful to live in a building where they can interact with their neighbors, sharing the same language that used to isolate them when they lived somewhere else,” says assistant manager Chad LeBlanc, who is also deaf-blind. “They are more relaxed and more joyful that they can visit their neighbors, have gatherings in the common areas, and attend various events provided by Sol.”
