Maybe, just maybe, something could start to happen with Ignacio's Rock Creek II workforce housing project northwest of the Adult Education Center.
"The Regional Housing Authority is interested in putting a project together," Town Manager Mark Garcia told the town board on April 20. "They are targeting home ownership (rather than rentals). It's town property with infrastructure to it. Sooner than not, we may be able to move this forward."
It's been in the works for years with occasional fits and starts of progress that stalled out. Lack of employee housing has been cited as a barrier to the town's economic development.
The town bought 70 acres at the west edge of Candelaria Heights in 2003 for $550,000, including a $450,000 grant from the Colorado Department of Local Affairs (DOLA). The grant required development of at least 60 deed restricted workforce housing units. The town considered several site plans for the Rock Creek project but was always stopped by the cost of installing streets and utilities.
The town tried to get various developers, including the Southern Ute Growth Fund, to take it on. The Growth Fund determined that a project with 30 percent affordable housing was not economically feasible with the cost of infrastructure.
Then the national housing bust happened.
In 2011, the town sold 54 acres of the project land to the Growth Fund for $365,000. The town kept 5.6 acres and used most of that money to extend the road and utilities to the land in 2013 with the idea of selling it to a non-profit affordable housing group to do the actual development. It's referred to as Rock Creek II. The requirement to create at least 60 affordable units still applied, or the town would have to pay back the $450,000.
Garcia said the RHA was talking about 30 units, and there was a question of whether the town could give (rather than sell) the land to RHA to reduce the cost of the homes. "Can we turn it over to RHA to manage and run?" he asked.
Trustee Alison deKay commented, "I think the intent was always affordable housing."
Community Development Coordinator Dan Naiman cited property in that area that the school distric wants to annex. "They are looking at employee housing. With them and the tribe, it could be a nice neighborhood."
DeKay said there's a waiting list for the school district's current employee housing.
But trustee Tom Atencio commented, "I don't think the town or school should be in that business with public money. I agree it's needed. It's not our place. I don't think it should be the school's" place either.
Garcia said the tribe also needs employee housing.
"Between three different entities, we should be able to offer quite a variety" of housing, Naiman said. He told the Times this week, "We haven't handed the project over to RHA yet, although that's the intent." The number of units and whether they are rentals or single family homes are the issues.
In 2014 the town and RHA had a market study done to determine demand from local employers and employees, whether they would buy a house in Ignacio and what they could afford, and whether 60 units of income restricted housing was economically feasible. The information would be provided to non-profit groups that might buy and develop the 5.6 acres. It would be up to the developer to install streets and utilities within the project.
Study results presented in July 2014 showed that a lot more people commute to work in Ignacio than commute from Ignacio to work elsewhere. Some of those commuting in might want to live in Ignacio, but there's nothing available, RHA Director Karen Iverson told town trustees back then. "The majority (of local employers) reported lack of housing for their employees is a major concern, that there's a large imbalance of jobs and housing," she said. "Seventy percent of employees are commuting here from somewhere else."
Rental vacancies in Ignacio were very low, she said.
Market study consultant Melanie Rees reported at that same meeting that most Ignacio renters were low income, and the largest share of employees were making $25,000 to $35,000. Employers saw a need for housing for entry-level professionals who they said were all commuting to Ignacio. But there wasn't evidence that they would live in Ignacio. Another market segment is tribal employees, Rees said. Yet another is seniors, disabled or special needs people, generally very low income, who might not be an economically viable market.
Rees and Iverson said a more detailed market study was needed, as well as a construction cost analysis that would determine the amount of outside funding that might be needed to fill a funding gap to keep units affordable.
Development Coordinator Naiman said this week, "The follow-up is what RHA has done," to document to DOLA that the market demand is 30 single family homes versus 60 rental units, and the 60-unit requirement should be adjusted. "Based on the recent surveys and cost analysis, RHA is contending there's more desire for a single family home ownership project," he said.
