denver organization set to build 60 affordable housing units

The Denver City Council is expected to vote later this month on a $3 million loan agreement that could provide funding for the construction of new affordable housing units in various neighborhoods of the city.

The loan agreement would be between the city, Denver County, and a group called the Elevation Community Land Trust.

That group was launched three years ago with the stated goal of building some 700 new homes in Denver by the year 2023. Elevation has recently indicated that it may actually build another 300 houses in that same time period.

According to the parameters of the loan agreement, Elevation, which is based in Denver, would purchase land for residential construction. Even though a resident may purchase a residential unit on that land, the property itself will still belong to the group.

Proponents of the idea say that particular clause will still allow the homeowner to sell the house in question at a later date, but by separating the ownership of the home from the land, the house would be end up being listed at a more affordable rate.

Meanwhile all homes, whether newly-built or rehabilitated, owned by Elevation will be sold below 100 percent of the Area Median Income.

The effort comes as the Denver residential market remains one of the most expensive in the West, with the average single-family home currently going for around $500,000.

A report issued last year by the real estate analysis service ATTOM Data Solutions said that the overall price of homes in metro Denver had increased by some 80 percent in the last decade.
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The $3 million loan agreement for Elevation has won the approval of the city council’s Safety, Housing, Education & Homelessness Committee.

​By Garry Boulard

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