The Residences at Durango – a 120-unit affordable workforce housing development along U.S. Highway 160 in west Durango – is now six months behind schedule, and prospective tenants are still waiting for a move-in date.
“This has been a freaking catastrophe,” said Katie Barthel, a New Mexico resident who helped her 23-year-old daughter, who has a disability and lives in Durango, apply for a single-bedroom unit in January.
She said they were first told the units would be ready in February. Then March. Then by the end of April.
“It was stringing along and stringing along,” she said.
In mid-May, an employee of Ross-Envolve property management told Barthel that the company was pulling out of its agreement to manage the Residences at Durango because it hadn’t been paid, she said.
“Since then, I’ve had no contact with anyone, and I don’t know how to get a hold of anyone there. They certainly haven’t reached out to us,” Barthel said. “They have our money, but they don’t reach out to us.”
She said she paid a $400 deposit for her daughter. While not a large sum, she noted her daughter is disabled and uses a housing voucher – something that’s difficult to obtain.
Apartments like those at the Residences at Durango are scarce in Durango’s high cost-of-living market. The units target workers earning 30% to 60% of the area median income in La Plata County, or $26,520 to $53,040 for a two-person household.
The maximum rent for studio units at the apartments is $580. Maximum rents for one-, two- and three-bedroom units are $621, $746 and $862, respectively, according to data provided by the city of Durango in January.
Residencesatdurango.com lists that it is accepting lease applications and offers floor plans for viewing. However, a “Take a tour” link leads to a 404 error page, and calls to the listed number are met with a generic voicemail message.
About Residences at Durango
The Residences at Durango is an ambitious project aimed at adding 120 affordable and workforce housing units for low-income earners to Durango’s housing inventory.
The city of Durango partnered with Project Moxie and Indianapolis-based TWG Development to complete what is expected to be Colorado’s first hotel-to-residential conversion using low-income housing tax credits – and the largest such project in Southwest Colorado.
The city and Project Moxie partnered to purchase the property, a former Best Western motel, while TWG, the developer, later reimbursed both the city and the nonprofit.
TWG now owns the development and is responsible for building and managing the apartments, which will include 120 units: 72 units within the former motel and 48 in new buildings under construction behind it.
The units are intended for workers earning 30% to 60% of the area median income in La Plata County – equivalent to $26,520 to $53,040 annually for a two-person household.
According to the La Plata County Regional Housing Alliance, the total projected cost of the project was $35.6 million as of April 2024.
Barthel said she was fortunate to secure a housing voucher for her daughter during this transitional period. She said without the voucher, her daughter would be homeless, because she had to leave her former residence after giving notice.
Maggie Meza, a former employee with Ross-Evolve, left her job after the firm pulled out of the Residences Durango because of nonpayment. Working for the property management company, she was placed in a difficult position to get the units leased because lease start dates kept being pushed back.
“I was the one that had to deal with giving this message to the (people who) had already applied, and just keep telling them, ‘Sorry, it’s not ready,’” she said.
She said some prospective tenants gave up as move-in dates kept shifting. Many applications were withdrawn, and she couldn’t in good faith encourage others to apply without a reliable timeline.
“There was just no more guarantee of when they were going to actually open, if inspections were actually going to start passing,” Meza said.
Most tenants were understanding, she said. Since at least January, construction had been stalled by issues related to locating a water main, complicating the project for TWG Development, the Indianapolis-based real estate development company that owns the apartments.
Mezo said many tenants found alternative housing, but not all were successful.
TWG Director of Renovations Brian Vandemoortele said Residences at Durango is “intended to be opening up this week,” but final inspections were still pending. He referred The Durango Herald to TWG Development Director Seth Atkinson for further details, noting he is not involved in property management.
In a voicemail to Atkinson, the Herald asked for a firm opening date and details about communications with wait-listed applicants after the repeated delays.
Atkinson responded by email, asking that questions be submitted in writing. He said he needed to review them with TWG’s chief operating officer, who is listed as J.B. Curry on the company’s website.
The Herald did not receive responses as of Thursday afternoon.
Vandemoortele said locating the water line’s depth and position – and determining how to connect it – delayed all subsequent development, including plumbing, fire and final inspections.
“It was holding up the entire project,” he said.
City spokesman Tom Sluis said the city’s Building Division has approved a final inspection of the apartment units located in the former motel. The Durango Fire Protection District is still awaiting corrections to the alarm system before it can give approval. Other buildings – not part of the former motel – do not have projected completion dates.
Sluis said a certificate of occupancy may be issued to TWG once all government departments have completed their work.
Mezo said she still receives emails from applicants and prospective tenants asking when the Residences at Durango will open.
She said she believes TWG has hired a new property management company, but neither TWG nor the city could identify the new management company – or if one had been hired.
“It’s pretty chaotic over there,” she said.
cburney@durangoherald.com
