East Las Cruces experiencing commercial and residential boom

Not many Las Cruces realtors understand the extent of the city’s growth like Paul Curry, who has worked in town for close to four decades.

“Typically western cities grow to the east, and Las Cruces is no different than that, Curry said. “There’s a lot of land out in that area of town and there is some employment out here.”

Like many other cities, the demand for Las Cruces housing stalled during the recession, Curry said. However now, he said there is a commercial and residential boom on the east side of town.

“I think Las Cruces is recovering. It’s not as fast as some others, because our recovery’s based on our employment,” Curry said. “Fortunately, El Paso has a lot of good employment and a lot of people are actually living in Las Cruces and working in El Paso.”

After buying land north of Highway 70 in 2006, Paul’s son, Jared left New Mexico to stay alive during the housing market crash.

“I survived the recession by taking my company… down to Texas where it never seemed to slow down,” Jared Curry said.

However, the younger Curry returned to Las Cruces with his family and began building once more. He told ABC-7 his company decided to build an apartment complex in Las Cruces after they knew the land he acquired in 2006 could turn a profit.

“After the crash, we sat on the land for ten years,” Jared Curry said.

Curry said the 200-unit apartment complex has been somewhat costly to build, but that it reflects the demand for building supplies as the housing market recovers.

“Boom-wise, I’ve seen a big increase on types of materials,” Curry said. “Lumber especially.”

The builder said units within the Willow Springs Apartment Community will be ready to rent in two to three short months. One bedroom units will go from $700 – 800 and two bedroom units will go from $800 – 900.

“We tried to really come up with some great architectural features, some chimneys and gables, and pop-outs,” Curry said. “They’re quite spacious inside.”