TUCSON, AZ — A Tucson affordable housing community that transformed two historic North Oracle Road motor courts into homes for older adults and formerly unhoused seniors has won a statewide design award.
Milagro on Oracle, a 63-unit affordable housing complex at 2425 N. Oracle Road, received the Arizona Multihousing Association's Developers Award for Best Community Design Affordable Community during an Aug. 7 ceremony in Phoenix.
The $21 million project was developed by the City of Tucson's nonprofit El Pueblo Housing Development and Gorman & Company. It serves low-income residents age 55 and older, including formerly unhoused seniors referred through the region's Continuum of Care system.
The development's defining feature is its reuse of two historic motor courts along Oracle Road: the DeAnza Motel, built in 1940 and later known as the No-Tel Motel, and the Don Motel, built in 1941.
Rather than demolish the aging buildings, the project team incorporated them into the new housing community and added a four-story building with an elevator. The work required the team to address structural and environmental issues tied to the decades-old properties while preserving their historic character.
Milagro on Oracle is located within the Miracle Mile National Historic District and the Thrive in the 05 area, a city-led effort focused on investment and revitalization along Tucson's historic northern gateway.
The project was completed in January 2025 and has now received two statewide honors. In August 2025, the Arizona Department of Housing recognized El Pueblo Housing Development with its Urban Development of the Year Housing Hero Award for the complex.
Milagro on Oracle was El Pueblo Housing Development's first completed project and Tucson's first Low-Income Housing Tax Credit project in more than a decade.
The community also includes a two-piece mural by Tucson artist Jessica Gonzales, whose work draws inspiration from Oracle Road's history as a midcentury route into the city.
City officials said the project is part of Tucson's broader strategy to add affordable homes while reinvesting in existing neighborhoods and historic corridors.
El Pueblo Housing Development has several other affordable housing projects in development, including Tucson House, Sugar Hill on Stone, Amazon Flats, Stone and Speedway, and El Rincón at Main Avenue and Davis Street.
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