City unsure how much property it owns

ALBUQUERQUE (KRQE) - The city of Albuquerque was overly aggressive in spending tens of millions of dollars during the last decade to buy troubled and neglected properties throughout the city.

"We're really in a situation now is we couldn't sell them for what we paid for them," said Rob Perry, the city’s chief operating officer.

Today, the city owns more than 2,200 properties across the city, though officials couldn’t be more exact because they aren’t sure themselves exactly how many properties the city bought.

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Not all of the properties were acquired in the last decade, however. Some came in land swaps, while others were donated, Pe1001

"Many were acquired historically 20, 50, 75 years ago and the records just aren't there,” Perry said.

Most of the properties bought in the last decade, however, were purchased with the idea to clean up crime-ridden, sometimes abandoned and trashed lots.

Officials planned to resell some of the properties it bought and redevelop others as community centers or low income housing. But the economy tanked and most plans were put on hold. Now the city, which is sitting on $600,000 in mortgages, admits it may have gone overboard.

One of those city-owned properties is located across the street from Vielka Ramirez. She said she's been looking at the boarded up house for two years and it makes her worried for her kids' safety.

"You see people wandering around there sometimes in the nights," said Ramirez.

The city bought the property, boarded it up and fenced it off to keep out vagrants. But nothing more has been done.

"Well they should sell it or do something with it," said Ramirez, who told News 13 she’d like to move but can’t afford it.

The city would like to build more projects like the new complex at Trumbull Avenue SE and San Pablo Avenue, which takes up an entire city block. The city bought the land and sold it to a developer who built apartments.

But, for the most part, developers don't want to take the financial risk for redevelopment.

So most of the lots are roughly in the same condition as the one across the street from the apartment complex Veronica Dominguez manages. She said people dump all kinds of trash on the land.

"I think they should do something; it shouldn't just be sitting there,” Dominguez said. “That's our tax money going just sitting there. It needs to help the community.”

Perry said he knows the city is in a property pinch.

"It's difficult to fix in 100 days what it took perhaps 100 years, since the beginning of cityhood, to basically create," he said.

The city is currently conducting an audit to see if it can track down exactly how many properties it owns.