Ask anyone; nowhere is it more challenging to find housing in Utah than right here in Moab.

Ben Riley, Executive Director of the Housing authority of Southeastern Utah, concurs with this assessment. He tells me the Housing Authority has been focusing on Moab because this is where the housing is most urgently needed. Founded in 1994 and having created a half dozen affordable projects around town, the Housing Authority HASU - has become, in a sense, a major developer of a specific kind of home that serves the community by building housing for those who work here.

So in 2017, when the Moab Area Community Land Trust, a nonprofit formed in 2012 to acquire and oversee land in trust that could be used to provide affordable housing for locals, was gifted a 41-acre slice of land South of town known as Arroyo Crossing (see “Non-Profit Happenings” September 2025) the HASU was waiting in the wings to do their part.

“We’ve partnered since the very beginning,” Riley, who has worked for HASU for 15 years, says. “MACLT isn’t a developer. They don’t build houses. We build houses. It’s a perfect match-up.”

“The hurdle is getting the land, so having a group that can obtain it is a godsend.” He adds: “Everything in the land trust is predicated on owning the home, not the land.” There are also deed restrictions in play. It’s all designed to “make sure homes stay affordable in perpetuity.”

A mix of townhomes, single-family homes, cottages and apartments destined for either ownership or rental, Arroyo Crossing has witnessed a burst of building activity in the past year, as the Arroyo community branched out from single-family ownership of homes into a starkly different profile of attached and semi-attached units which are mostly rentals. These include Skyline Arch—affordable rentals that filled up the minute they came on the market—and Confluence Cottages, which are geared for more moderate-income families.

The current spate of rentals having been built out—incredibly on schedule—future plans are now unfolding. At the moment the rental lots available at Arroyo are largely built out, with only one tract still to be developed. And the idea of moderate-income housing—to serve those who can’t afford market prices but don’t qualify for affordable housing—is increasingly where Riley sees HASU going in the next few years. “Moab depends on the service sector,” he says. “Moderate-income individuals—the economy we have doesn’t support it with the price of housing on the open market. A lot of times this is their only option for home ownership.”

With that in mind, the Housing Authority plans to build new homes in the next few years for this “moderate” income home ownership bracket. A portion of the homes will be “self-help” where the owners take part in the building process. According to Riley this is a market that has been previously underserved.

The growing community of Arroyo Crossing can be found a mile and a half south of town on Spanish Valley Drive.

The HASU office, a recently renovated building that used to serve as the Free Health Clinic on 500 West, houses a staff of nine, which includes two full-time construction supervisors and two assistants who can frequently be found on site at Arroyo Crossing. Riley oversees the operation, its development and its finances, from home base. There is a seven-member Board of Directors. For his part, Riley calls himself a “normal transplant” who came to Moab to rock climb, but “managed to land a good gig.”

For more information and to continue to connect the many dots: Check out moabhousing.com. The Housing Authority’s website is also a great resource, providing information on what is available both at Arroyo Crossing and their several other projects.