Courtesy Town of Winter Park
Winter Park is moving forward with a development agreement that could bring up to 82 affordable housing units to town.
On Tuesday, the Winter Park Town Council heard a proposal for the Fireside Creek Development from a group known as the Winter Park Partners. The proposal suggests a mixed-income housing development financed by Low-Income Housing Tax Credits.
“One hundred percent of all the units in this project will be deed restricted to either affordable or local workforce households,” said Jim Potter, partner at Consolidated Development Partners, one part of the Winter Park Partners. “We think it’s good for the workforce climate in the town and we’ll also be able to attract maybe new workforce households to the area.”
The $18 million development would go in on 1.9 acres on Kings Crossing Drive, next to Silverado II. Per the town’s request, the development is geared toward local workforce and some units will likely require tenants to work in the Fraser Valley.
All of the designs and details for the project are preliminary right now, as the development would need to go through the planning commission and get council’s approval, but right now Potter and his team are proposing 62 units at 40 to 60% of the area median income (AMI) and 20 units at 100% AMI.
According to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, Grand County’s AMI is $79,500 a year.
Potter said his team is working on a market study to ensure the development is providing the units the town needs.
“We haven’t designed this project, so we don’t know what it’s going to look like,” Potter said. “Our design really is oriented by budget and by town staff, as well as this body. It’s also going to be geared by our neighborhood and our surrounding neighbors.”
Potter described the building design right now as three-story walk-ups with one-, two- and three-bedroom units.
Rent starts at $480 per month for a one bedroom and bathroom at 40% AMI and goes up to $1,541 for a three bedroom and two bathroom at 100% AMI. Renters will also be responsible for utilities.
The next steps for the project will be for the town council to approve a development agreement with Winter Park Partners and for the group to apply for housing credits from the Colorado Housing and Finance Authority in December.
Potter said having the town contribute the land for the project gives it an edge when applying for federal money.
“When the community is not just saying yea, we need affordable housing, but they’re saying we’re behind it and financially supporting it, that goes a long way in determining where the state puts resources they have,” said Jake Mooney, co-founder of MRE Capital, another member of the Winter Park Partners. “That’s why this has the potential it does.”
While the timeline of the project is dependent on receiving the appropriate approvals and good weather, Potter said he hopes to get in the ground by next August and have people moving in around fall 2021.