Tucson Council Approves $10M in Bonds to Preserve 82 Affordable Senior Homes

Tucson is putting bond money behind preservation instead of new construction. On Wednesday, November 4, the City Council voted 6–0 to approve the city's Industrial Development Authority issuing up to $10 million in multifamily housing revenue bonds for the Craycroft Towers and Lee Street duplexes project, Tucson Daily Brief reported. The bonds will help rehabilitate and preserve 82 units of housing for older adults for at least 30 more years — homes that previously operated as public housing and are now being shifted to the Housing Choice Voucher program.

By Marisol Rodriguez, editor & host of TucsonBound

November 6, 2026 · Source: Tucson Daily Brief (Nov. 4, 2026), reporting the Tucson Mayor and Council meeting

How the financing stacks

Council Member Miranda Schubert, who pulled the item for discussion, explained the structure: the project is financed primarily through low-income housing tax credits, which require bond funding to work. Layered around the credits and the bonds are Community Development Block Grant money, HOME funds, a Pro Housing grant, and public housing capital funds — and Pima County has committed $500,000 in gap funding. Schubert's point was the one preservation advocates make everywhere: preserving affordable housing almost always requires gap funding, which is why she is advocating for a preservation item in the Pima County bond process. Mayor Regina Romero noted the project reflects reforms to the city's Industrial Development Authority that she began as a council member. Under the city's 2023 public housing financial stability plan, both properties are moving from traditional public housing to the Housing Choice Voucher program as the rehabilitation proceeds.

Also approved: a coffee roaster for the Fort Lowell Commissary

The same meeting gave the east side a smaller, tastier headline. The council voted 6–0 to lease about 6,999 square feet of the historic Fort Lowell Commissary at 5477 E. Fort Lowell Road to Seven Cities Coffee LLC, doing business as Exo Roast Co./Bar Crisol. Preservation of the building was funded by Arizona State Parks grants and the city's Tucson Delivers Parks and Connections bond package, the site is set to become an east side destination for coffee and pastries — possibly with wine and live music later — and a grand opening is expected early next year. The business's representative told the council the project has been in the works for three years.

Why it matters for movers

Preservation rarely makes headlines the way a new subdivision does, but for Tucson's housing stock it matters at least as much: 82 affordable homes for older adults, in established neighborhoods with services around them, stay affordable for another three decades instead of drifting to market rents. It is the same policy direction as the city's December rewrite of rents and screening for its 330 city-owned El Portal homes — Tucson is working the affordable stock it already has. If you are moving a parent here, or retiring on a fixed budget yourself, the landscape of income-restricted senior options is worth understanding early; our 55+ communities guide covers the ownership side, and the monthly market report tracks what the open market is doing while these preservation deals proceed in parallel.

My take: a city that preserves 82 senior homes with the same seriousness it courts new development is telling you how it intends to grow. For movers weighing Tucson against faster, pricier Arizona options, that steadiness is part of the product.