fort collins stepping up its affordable housing goals

In an effort to increase its affordable housing stock, the City of Fort Collins has issued a Request for Proposals for consultants to help formulate its newly adopted Housing Strategic Plan.

Some 6 years ago the city announced the formulation of an initial housing initiative setting a goal of having at least 10% of the city’s housing inventory classified as affordable by the year 2040.

That initial effort resulted in the construction or upgrading of nearly 100 affordable rental units, as well as 373 new homes.

But, according to city documents, the “gap between median income and median home price is widening” in Fort Collins, making the need for more affordable housing more crucial than ever.

To make matters worse, nearly a quarter of all homeowners in the city currently cannot afford their monthly mortgage notes, while those seeking to come into the market are inhibited by a median home sale price of at least $430,000.

The consultant will be tasked with trying to align the city’s various affordable housing programs with the actual need, with an emphasis on trying to achieve what are called “more equitable outcomes” for members of the community.

The timeframe for the work is between October of this year and next May.
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In an effort to see the construction of more affordable housing, Fort Collins officials have in recent months additionally considered requiring developers to build a certain percentage of affordable homes, as well as charging those developers a project fee that would go into a fund for the building of future affordable homes.

​By Garry Boulard

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