The conservation-based village was named to reflect its carefully woven land plan: Trenza, which is Spanish for “braid.” The name Trenza speaks to the strength of a diverse and inclusive community—where the interdependency of people, land, water, and wildlife is explicitly acknowledged and celebrated. It also refers to the way water moves through a desert watershed: braided, layered, and interconnected.

Gracefully held by the surrounding red rock hills and ridges in the northeast corner of the Preserve, the proposed village plan for Trenza will serve a broad range of land conservation and community building goals. The mixed-use master-planned community is designed to:

• directly connect people to the land they inhabit
• actively employ planning practices and building methods that respect the land and water resources of the region
• thoughtfully and visibly support the cultural and economic diversity of northern New Mexico

Trenza is designed to support an inclusive, mixed-income community of 965 homes that reflect a variety of housing types and neighborhoods (e.g., town homes, courtyard homes, detached homes, co-housing, elder housing). A tight cluster of residential neighborhoods linked via pathways, neighborhood parks, and alamedas will be anchored by a pedestrian-scale commercial and civic center.

As a model of conservation-based community development, the proposed village will leverage the sale of its homes to underwrite the conservation and restoration of approximately 13,000 acres of open space.

Educational, civic, and commercial land uses are also planned. Trenza's village center will likely include a café, general store, post office, business incubator, outpatient care medical facility, fire station, ATM, chapel, environmental center, and live-work commercial space for local artisans and community-based businesses. A dual-language, environmentally focused charter high school is planned to be physically and programmatically integrated into the community. As currently envisioned, the school will support a number of joint-use facilities, including playfields, a library, indoor swimming pool, meeting spaces, and continuing-education classrooms.

At the southern edge of Trenza, a small organic farm, greenhouses, and a "memorial landscape" are proposed. In addition to neighborhood parks, village residents and the general public will have access to 50 miles of planned public and private trails for hiking, biking, and equestrian use.

With its proximity to a proposed commuter rail line, its innovative water conservation program, solar-oriented site plan, and "healthy buildings" construction practice, Trenza's village plan demonstrates the efficacy of green development in a workforce-housing/conservation-development context.

Village Progress

• Commonweal Conservancy secured Master Plan approval for the Village from Santa Fe County in June 2007.
• Commonweal Conservancy gained preliminary plat approval for Phase I of the Village from Santa Fe County in February 2010.
• We expect the approval and pre-construction process to continue through 2010.
• The first home construction in the village is expected to begin in 2011.