Media Contact: Chynna Cowart
chynna.cowart@state.co.us | 303-656-7464
The Colorado Department of Local Affairs (DOLA), through the Division of Housing (DOH), recently awarded $31,238,238 in funding across eight counties in Colorado.
Through the State Housing Board, which is composed of members chosen by the Governor and confirmed by the Colorado Senate, the Transformational Affordable Housing Grant (TAHG) awards were reviewed and recommended for funding. These eight grants will provide an estimated 482 additional affordable housing units to the state.
Transformational Affordable Housing Grant Program Awardees
Garfield, Boulder, Larmier, Saguache, Crowley, Montezuma, Routt, and Chaffee counties are among the communities receiving funding in this second round.
| Applicant | County | DOLA Grant Award | Project |
| Fort Collins Habitat for Humanity | Garfield | $1,000,000 | Wapiti Commons |
| Boulder County Housing Authority | Boulder | $8,000,000 | Willoughby Corner 1B |
| Fort Collins Habitat for Humanity | Larmier | $720,000 | Harmony Cottages |
| Crestone Peak Community Housing (CPCH) | Saguache | $4,533,029 | Living Wisdom Village |
| Southeast Colorado Enterprise Development, Inc. | Crowley | $6,220,709 | Ordway East Duplex Development |
| Mancos Common Press | Montezuma | $815,000 | Mancos Commons |
| Town of Hayden | Routt | $8,600,000 | Sugarmill Affordable Housing Development |
| Town of Buena Vista | Chaffee | $1,350,000 | Carbonate Street (Phase I) |
Project Descriptions
1. Wapiti Commons ($1M - Adding 20 housing units)
Habitat for Humanity of the Roaring Fork Valley was awarded $1,000,000 for new construction of 20 homeownership units. Wapiti Commons is located in the City of Rifle at the corner of Wapiti & Smith Streets. The community will include ten 3-bedroom townhomes and ten condos, varying from 1-bedroom to 3-bedrooms, and will be targeted to households earning approximately 80% of the Area Median Income (AMI).
The project broke ground in April 2022 and estimates construction to be complete by spring of 2024.
2. Willoughby Corner 1B ($8M - Adding 129 housing units)
Willoughby Corner 1B, a 129 unit multifamily rental complex in Lafayette, will receive $8,000,000 in Transformational Affordable Housing Grant (TAHG) money. Boulder County Housing Authority (BCHA) will develop the 24-acre land into a master-planned community with 400 permanently affordable homes built in various phases under an intergovernmental agreement with the City of Lafayette.
The proposed unit mix consists of 87 one-bedroom, 30 two-bedroom, and 12 three-bedroom units. Seven units (5% of total) will serve households at 30% of Area Median Income (AMI), with nine units at 40% AMI, 52 units at 50% AMI, and 61 units at 60% AMI. Average affordability is 53%.
All residents will be provided an RTDNeighborhood EcoPass, along with the convenience of on-site bus stops. Open Space trails, grocery stores, and the historic Town Center are within a mile of the site.
Five unique buildings—three-story apartments, two-story nine-plex flats, and a one-story communal building—will be constructed as part of this phase. All structures will be slab-on-grade, with gypcrete topping slabs for fire resistance and acoustic isolation, wood stud wall framing, and wood trusses for roof support. The nine-plex's second and third story apartments will all have balconies, and the flats' ground floor apartments will all have patios.
3. Harmony Apartments ($720K - Adding 24 housing units)
Fort Collins Habitat for Humanity (FCHFH) was granted $720,000 for Harmony Cottages, which will provide 24 3-bedroom homes for households at 45-60% AMI, with an average AMI of 52.5%.
The Harmony Cottages project is already halfway complete. There will be 4 single-family modular homes and 44 single-family connected residences (duplex units) in total. With this transformational investment, FCHFH would be able to complete this work more quickly, accelerating delivery by roughly one year. 22 duplexes in the Harmony Cottages area and 2 modular homes in the Mosaic neighborhood will both receive financing as a result of this application.
The two homes in the Mosaic neighborhood will be built by students in the Poudre High School Geometry in Construction program, with FCHFH serving as the general contractor. Through this practical STEM education initiative, 80 to 100 kids are able to learn geometry while constructing a modular Habitat home in the school's parking lot each year.
The site plan includes abundant green open space, a pocket park and playground, attached garages, small yards, and courtyards surrounded by white-picket fences to increase the feeling of community.
4. Living Wisdom Village ($4.325M - Adding 20 housing units)
For the development of Living Wisdom Village, a 20-unit senior project in Crestone for underserved seniors to age in place with affordable and predictable housing costs, close to friends and established connections, Crestone Peak Community Housing (CPCH) was awarded a $4,325,469 grant through the Transformational Affordable Housing Grant Program. The project's proximity to Crestone's downtown will make it simpler for locals to fulfill their demands for shopping and socializing.
Rents will be available at 30% - 100% AMI, which will increase equity for seniors with low income. The project has been designed to accommodate a variety of disabilities, providing long-term support for residents. The village will be supported by a community center, which will provide social stability through numerous activities and offer a comfortable, inclusive, and attractive place for seniors to connect. CPCH anticipates that 25-35 seniors will live at the village.
Living Wisdom Village will be built on a 4.6-acre parcel owned by CPCH, located 4 blocks from the Crestone commercial center. The village design includes a mix of single-story studio, 1, and 2-bedroom units and incorporates a communal, yet independent housing approach. The village will include a community center, community garden, and fitness trails.
5. Ordway East Duplex Development ($6.2M - Adding 28 housing units)
Southeast Colorado Enterprise Development, Inc. has been granted $6,220,709 for their Ordway East Duplex Development project.
This project is made possible by the capacity developed by the cooperation of 16 local governments, who are jointly leveraging funds for land, tap fees, infrastructure development, construction oversight, and securing all required entitlements to allow SECED to invest in 14 duplexes or 28 units in the Town of Ordway to be rented back to the workforce. This has made it possible for the project to focus on AMIs with rental rates of 60% to 120%. A diversified neighborhood will result from a range of AMIs, and the housing will be able to accommodate the local workforce while also luring and keeping workers.
The remaining publicly owned land that is adjacent to the project will also create an additional 18 lots for affordable homeownership dwellings for the community, a dedicated parcel for a community park, and ready the infrastructure for 2.3 acres to allow for the expansion of Senior Center on the adjacent parcel.
6. Mancos Commons ($815K - Adding 3 housing units)
Mancos Commons, a mixed-use development in the heart of Mancos, will be built thanks to a grant of $815,000 given to the Mancos Common Press (MCP). In a small rural town, Mancos Commons strives to unite community housing and creative arts.
In the center of Mancos's downtown and artistic sector, at 129 West Grand Avenue, is where Mancos Commons will be situated. The current Mancos Common Press building is just next to the site. The Mancos Commons will be a roughly 4,000-square-foot, two-story mixed-use building with three cheap one-bedroom apartments, a sizable workshop, retail, and office space. The development will also keep a pocket park or courtyard next to Grand Avenue, which serves as the major road through the city. The courtyard gives people a place to congregate outside and host cultural events while maintaining a clear line of sight to the mural on the Mancos Common Press building.
7. Prairie Run Workforce Apartments ($8.6M - Adding 129 housing units)
The Town of Hayden (Hayden) was awarded $8,600,000 to assist with the new construction of a 129 workforce housing project in Hayden. The development will be called Prairie Run Workforce Apartments (Prairie Run) and will offer rental housing between 80% and 160% AMI. All units will be perpetually deed-restricted rental housing units, in apartments, townhomes and for-sale units in a later phase of the development.
Prairie Run will be an all-electric community with high efficiency electrical heating for all units. This process will use operational and design efficiencies gained from similar all-electric rural resort communities in Keystone and Breckenridge.
8. Carbonate Street Phase I ($1.35M - Adding 129 housing units)
The Town of Buena Vista was awarded a $1,350,000 Transformational Affordable Housing Grant to help with the construction of the infrastructure for the first phase of Carbonate Street in Buena Vista. There will be 60 deed-restricted rental apartment homes available in Carbonate Street Phase 1. A publicly-owned early childhood education center's core and shell are a part of Phase 1.
Two walk-up apartment structures with three stories and a total of 30 units each are included in the site plan as it stands. With an average income of 97.5%, households earning between 80% and 120% of the Area Median Income (AMI) will mostly benefit from Carbonate Street Phase 1's smaller housing units.
Carbonate Street Phase I is located in the heart of Buena Vista, ensuring residents have walkable and immediate access to not only the daily necessities and employment, but also to open spaces and recreation. It is situated within three blocks of Buena Vista’s historic East Main Street and the extensive River Park sports fields and Arkansas River. In addition, the property is less than a half mile from the nearest grocery store and Highway 24. The property is three blocks from the elementary school and a quarter mile from the middle and high school campus.
About the Transformational Affordable Housing Grant Program
The aim of this Transformational Affordable Housing (Homeownership and Workforce) Housing Grant Program is to provide funds and resources to assist eligible applicants in developing, creating or preserving affordable housing opportunities in their communities.
The Program is informed and DOLA was appropriated funds by the passing of HB22-1304 ($138M) and HB22-1377 ($105M), which followed the recommendations of the Affordable Housing Transformational Task Force, the Economic Recovery and Relief Task Force, and Governor Polis’ affordable housing and homelessness priorities, as well as the State of Colorado’s Playbook on Making Homelessness History in Colorado.
In addition, DOH launched a statewide public engagement process alongside Housing Colorado and the Colorado Housing and Finance Authority (CHFA) during the summer of 2022. These engagement sessions as well as numerous other meetings with stakeholders around the state provided ideas and feedback regarding the rollout and parameters of the new funding.