The Regional Housing Alliance of La Plata County is aiming to develop at least 100 new affordable homes in the next five years.
The alliance announced this week it is creating a new development branch that will be self-sustaining and manage housing construction, said Karen Iverson, executive director of the alliance.
“We want to develop housing that is affordable to the workforce,” she said.
This branch of the alliance would be responsible for finding sites for new construction, finding the architect, hiring the contractor and monitoring construction.
In addition to construction, this new branch would also try to preserve some of the older affordable housing because the government restrictions on those housing units will be expiring soon and they could be rented at market rates if the RHA doesn’t purchase them.
The need for this housing has been growing in recent years. For example, 50 percent of renters and 32 percent of homeowners in Durango can’t afford to pay for their housing, Iverson said.
“It’s just become so unaffordable for families to stay in Durango,” she said.
The need for more housing isn’t isolated to Durango. To keep up with economic growth forecasts, 790 new housing units are needed each year across the county.
In Durango, the second phase of the Lumien Apartments at 32nd Street and East Animas Village Drive will add another 50 units to the housing stock to help meet the need.
By 2017, the alliance hopes to have another 30-unit project underway, according a documents submitted to the city.
mshinn@durangoherald.com
