Snowmass Village Explores Grant Funding For Proposed 80-Unit Workforce Housing Complex
The Town of Snowmass Village Planning Commission began its first look at a proposed 80-unit workforce housing complex as the town explores grant funding to go toward the project.
A first look at sketches for the project was presented to the Snowmass Town Council in an informational session in late November. The project, which the town is calling the Draw Site, would build 80 units of workforce housing in a parcel of land on the Faraway Ranch North subdivision, directly northwest of Snowmass Town Hall.
The apartments would add to the town’s growing stock of affordable housing units and help reach a goal set in the town’s 2021 housing master plan of adding 185 more units of workforce housing. The total anticipated cost of the project is $62.3 million, and the town is looking for grants to help fund the development.
A Strong Communities Infrastructure Grant from the State Department of Local Affairs for the Draw Site was denied because the project is still in very early stages.
“What we’re finding out in a lot of cases is that most of the people providing grants are looking for something that’s pretty much shovel-ready, and we’re not there yet,” said Snowmass Housing Operation and Compliance Manager Mitch Osur.
The initial proposal was brought to the Planning Commission on Dec. 20. It will continue evaluating the Draw Site proposal in at least two more meetings before it can go to the Town Council for approval, he said.
Further review from the Planning Commission will help determine more exact costs and concrete details about the two-building apartment complex.
“Once we get a little further along and we have a better understanding of what it’s actually going to look like in the end, then we will continue to pursue as many grants as possible,” he said.
The timeline of the project is still unclear because it is so early in the process.
The Draw Site would be one of the largest projects for workforce housing coming from the town’s housing master plan. It would amount to two five-story buildings with 48 one-bedroom units, 24 two-bedroom units, and eight three-bedroom units, according to a summary of the proposal presented to the Planning Commission.
The Town Council approved the housing master plan in October 2021 after nearly two years of request for proposal issuances and development from the housing department. The plan identified several sites as viable opportunities to expand the housing stock, including a plot next to the public works facilities on Owl Creek Road, one at the Carriage Way apartments, and another along Daly Lane. The site behind Town Hall — the Draw Site — was initially proposed to house 90 units and 120 parking spaces. The town currently manages 300 workforce housing rental units and about 150 deed-restricted homes.
Rental rates for workforce housing units in Snowmass are between 30% and 70% of the area median income depending on the type of unit, according to the housing master plan. The monthly rent for a studio apartment is $540-780, a one-bedroom is $690-1,000, a two-bedroom is $1,185-1,470, and a three-bedroom is $1,815.
By: Lucy Peterson I Snowmass Sun I December 29, 2023