ELLY GRIMM
• Leader & Times
There has been much going on in the way of housing throughout the Liberal community and recently, one of those projects had its official groundbreaking.
Wednesday morning, City of Liberal leaders and others involved in the Ortuño Addition project gathered to officially break ground on the project.
“This marks the beginning of the Ortuño Addition housing development project and a new chapter in our commitment to exceptional home building. We gather not just to break ground, but to build a foundation for dreams and future memories,” Design Lead/Associate AIA Edgar Ortuño said. “It's an honor to have so many people joining us as we embark on this journey to grow this community through this new neighborhood the community will cherish for years to come. We want to extend our deepest gratitude to Mayor Jose Lara, City Manager Rusty Varnado, the City of Liberal, the Liberal City Commission, and our civil engineering team. I also want to thank our dedicated OC Quality Custom Homes team for its exceptional work. I would also like to thank the community, our clients and supporters because their trust is one of the cornerstones of our success. When we began this journey, we knew there would be some challenges, and we have been humbled during this process, but we're grateful to everyone who's helped along the way, because you all have been such a huge part in us being here in the community and celebrating this groundbreaking milestone. We've come such a long way since the founding of our company in a garage just a few blocks down from this development. We now find ourselves with the opportunity to create 47 new homes, which can help someone find their dream home no matter what stage of life they're at. Architecture is meant for everyone, it can happen anywhere, anytime, on any given budget. We'll continue with this premise as we build a community that will help anyone find the perfect place to call home. We're excited to officially break ground on this Ortuño Addition.”
Liberal Mayor Jose Lara then offered praise for the project.
“This is an absolutely amazing moment for us as a city, and credit needs to be given where it's due. The Ortuño family came to the city and was discussing how we could move forward. They had a plan, they had the perseverance, and they wanted to do this project,” Lara said. “The new Rural Housing Incentive District (RHID) plan, where we come in and help with the infrastructure, can almost be 100 percent given to the Ortuño family, because they're the ones who said 'We have the plans, we have the goals, how can we make this happen?' That set everything in motion to be able to fund all these projects. At this point, there's this Ortuño Addition project, another project up north of town, another project to the east, and for the first time ever, we've had at least 400 units of new housing committed in the city of Liberal. That's all thanks to the Ortuño family – this family is exactly what Liberal represents in regard to working hard and putting together plans and goals to make things happen. They've come forward and done everything in their power to persevere, and I appreciate them so, so much for everything they've done. You're local, you're investing local and helping grow local and helping build the future of Liberal.”
