PAH! Hiland Plaza (PAH) is Albuquerque’s first multifamily housing designed with and for the Deaf community. The innovative four-story, mixed-income transit-oriented development includes 92 one-, two-, and three-bedroom rental apartment homes and many amenities, enrichment services, neighborhood benefits, and transportation options. PAH is the largest housing development serving the Deaf community in the nation, and the only one designed to include households with children. Features designed for Deaf residents include strobe light doorbells and fire alarms, a video entry system, and building modifications to support residents’ ability to equally participate in social events.

Sol Housing (formerly Greater Albuquerque Housing Partnership), partnered with the Deaf Culture Center of New Mexico (DCCNM) to design this unique community that is also the home of DCCNM’s offices and event space. The DCCNM had a long-time dream of having a place for members of the Deaf community to connect and live together with the conveniences often taken for granted by their hearing counterparts. The name comes from the adjacent historic Hiland Theater and “PAH!” is an expression in American Sign Language meaning “Success!” or “Finally!”

Location: Albuquerque, New Mexico
Developer: Sol Housing (formerly known as Greater Albuquerque Housing Partnership)