$37.5 million, 192-unit affordable housing project proposed for SE Colorado Springs
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (KRDO) -- The city says it is meeting the goal established several years ago by Mayor John Suthers to build at least 1,000 new affordable housing units annually, and the next proposed project will add nearly 200 units on the southeast side.
The project, called Bentley Commons, will be located at the existing affordable housing complex of the same name, in an industrial area along Hancock Expressway and just west of Academy Boulevard.
According to Steve Posey, the city's program manager for housing and urban development, the project will renovate 24 existing units and build 168 units for a total of 192.
Posey said that monthly rents for one-, two- and three-bedroom units will cost $460, $550 and $643, respectively -- with the availability of rent vouchers lowering those costs even more.
"That's well below the market rents of between $1,200 ad $1,500 for one-bedroom units," he said. "This project is being designed primarily for veterans and single-parent families trying to work their way out of homelessness."
The project will cost $37.5 million and the city will allocate up to $20 million of its $26 million in private activity bonds, given to cities based on population and helping developers offset the project's overall cost.
The City Council -- meeting at the Plaza of the Rockies for the first time, while its City Hall chambers are being renovated -- watched a presentation on the project Monday and will vote on it in two weeks. No council member spoke against the project but some asked questions about it.
A drilling crew was on the site Monday, doing preparatory work to prepare the site for construction. The council is expected to approve the project.
With the site's location in an industrial area and Sand Creek separating it from the nearest residential neighborhood, the project has not had the strong opposition characteristic of past projects.
"I think it's nice that they're building more affordable housing," said Mickayla Bastidos, a Bentley Commons tenant. "There's a lot of people out there who can't afford apartments nowadays, because they're so expensive. If they build something that people can afford, then we'll have a lot less homeless."
Three local nonprofit organizations -- Greccio Housing, Partners in Housing and Rocky Mountain Land Trust -- are teaming up on the project. The new complex will be managed by Greccio.
Posey said that construction could start by the end of the year, and tenants could move in a year later.
"To give you an example of what the demand for affordable housing is like, we're building a project called the Atrium at Austin Bluffs for senior housing that won't be finished until later this year," said Lee Patke, Greccio's executive director. "It will have 54 units and we've already heard from 100 people who are interested in them."
