new senior affordable apartments proposed for colorado springs

In a growing city where both the average home price and apartment monthly rent continues to climb, the nonprofit Greccio Housing has announced plans to build a complex geared especially for low-income seniors.

The 50-unit project in Colorado Springs is slated for construction on a currently empty 1-acre site at the corner of Austin Bluffs Parkway and Templeton Gap Road on the northeast side of the city.

Officials with Greccio Housing, which is dedicated to expanding the affordable housing stock in Colorado Springs, say that roughly 62 percent of city residents aged 65 years or age or older are currently living in “cost burdened” housing situations.

With the current average Colorado Springs home priced at $267,000 and one-bedroom apartment rents at $1,000 a month and rising, the prospects of more seniors no longer being able to find affordable housing is challenging city officials.

The 50-unit apartment proposal starts out with one decided advantage: the site was donated to the City of Colorado Springs with the stipulation that it be sold to a nonprofit for one dollar.

Public input meetings on the project are expected to be held in Colorado Springs later this spring.

By Garry Boulard