Affordable Apartments · 250 Paseo del Canon E, Taos, NM
El Cerrito is a green-built community of 56 apartment homes on Paseo del Canon, with the middle school across the road, the hospital minutes away, and Taos Mountain filling the horizon.
Welcome to El Cerrito
El Cerrito means "the little hill," and the name is literal: 56 apartment homes on a rise above the sagebrush at the south edge of Taos, every building angled to soak up the winter sun. Rain from the roofs is stored underground and put to work in the landscape. In a town where rents climb faster than paychecks, rents here are set below market through the tax-credit program, and Housing Choice Vouchers are welcome.
Check Availability
Tell us a little about what you need, and we usually call back the same business day.
In every home
Floor plans
Every home has a full kitchen and the kind of sun-facing, energy-saving design that shows up as a lower utility bill. As an affordable tax-credit community, El Cerrito keeps rents below market for qualifying households. Call for today's exact pricing, or see how to qualify.
1 Bed · Call for square footage
A right-sized home for one or two people, with a full kitchen and windows placed to catch the long high-desert light.
Call for current pricing & availability
2 Bed · Call for square footage
A second bedroom for kids, guests, or a home office, with the same warm, sun-facing design throughout.
From $749/mo
Program rent as of August 2026. Income limits apply; call to confirm today's rate.
3 Bed · Call for square footage
The most room in the community, with space to spread out and the same full kitchen and energy-saving construction.
Call for current pricing & availability
Built for this climate
El Cerrito · built green in 2006
Taos sits at 7,000 feet: cold winters, but sun almost every day. Every building at El Cerrito is angled so that free winter sunlight does part of the heating work, which keeps homes comfortable and utility bills lower.
In the high desert, water is too precious to lose. Rain that falls on El Cerrito is captured and stored below ground, then put to work in the landscape instead of running off down the hill.
A solar array feeds clean power back into the grid, putting the same mountain sun that lights Taos to work for the community.
Built with recycled and responsibly sourced materials as part of the Enterprise Green Communities program. The weathered steel on the community center wears its recycled story on the outside.
El Cerrito is part of a New Mexico family of green-built affordable communities whose sister properties have earned Enterprise Green Communities certification and LEED ratings up to Platinum.
A look around
The neighborhood
El Cerrito sits on the Paseo del Canon corridor at the south end of Taos: Taos Middle School directly across the road, the Youth and Family Center with its pool and skate park up the street, Holy Cross Medical Center minutes away, and both grocery stores a straight shot down Paseo del Pueblo Sur.
Good to know
Everyone is welcome to apply. El Cerrito is an affordable community, so eligibility comes down to household income and size, never age. Call the office and we can usually tell you in one short conversation whether your household qualifies.
Household income must fall below limits that HUD sets each year for Taos County. The limits scale with household size and change annually, so the surest way to know is to call with a rough idea of your monthly income. In a town where rents run high, many working households are surprised to learn they qualify.
Current program rent for a two bedroom is $749 per month. It is a fixed amount, not a percentage of your income. For today's exact rate on every floor plan, and current availability, please call the office. Program rents adjust from time to time.
Our Communities
From Taos to Hobbs, our family of affordable, green-built communities has been growing across the state since 1999. Another one may be right down the road.
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Affordable Apartments · Taos, New Mexico
The best way to know if El Cerrito feels like home is to visit. Call us and we will answer your questions and set up a tour.