The high cost of housing in the Roaring Fork Valley hit home for Glenwood Springs city employee Jacob Zook as soon as he got the rent increase notice for his free-market apartment on Wulfsohn Road at The Meadows.
“I was not able to afford it, so I was pretty desperately looking for other options,” said the 26-year-old, single professional who is just starting to make a career for himself as an economic development specialist for the City.
“Even looking downvalley, it wasn’t much better, and I would have the commute,” Zook said.
But, with help from a down payment assistance program for city employees, a new affordable housing option in Glenwood made perfect sense for his situation.
Zook is among the first buyers at Habitat for Humanity Roaring Fork Valley’s The Carter condominiums, located across the street from where Zook had been renting.
Habitat bought the 88-unit former L3 Apartments last year, and has converted the free-market rentals into studio and one-bedroom condos available for purchase at below-market prices.
“I definitely consider myself lucky enough to be able to move into a place here and make it work long term,” said Zook, who joins a growing list of residents, some of them Valley natives, who’ve finally found a permanent home at The Carter.
“I grew up here and, yeah, I was blessed to have some help from my parents to get this place and be able to make it work financially,” said Matt Mitchell.
Tears welled up in Mitchell’s eyes as he scrolled through photos on his smart phone from closing day.
“It’s hard to find a place here unless it’s employee housing,” he said of housing options that often tie one’s housing to their employment, leading to insecurity.
“This feels like perfect employee housing, and the location is phenomenal,” Mitchell said. “I’m five to 10 minutes away from anything I need to get to. I love that.”
His good friend, Greg Cwiertniewicz, currently rents one of The Carter units, but is working through the financing process to buy.
“I like the community, and it’s close to my work, so I’m really hoping this works out,” he said.
The Carter was renamed as such earlier this year in memory of the late President Jimmy Carter, who was an advocate and occasional hands-on volunteer builder for Habitat for Humanity.
“He was such a tremendous force for Habitat, and just had such a presence and a humble spirit of volunteerism with the organization,” said new Habitat Roaring Fork Valley Chief Executive Officer Darla Callaway. “We wanted to honor that spirit with this new way to serve affordable housing needs in our community.”
The local Habitat chapter long ago moved away from the model of building affordable homes one-at-a-time utilizing volunteer laborers and the “sweat equity” of the buyers themselves.
Recent projects, such as the 20-unit Wapiti Commons in Rifle, still rely heavily on the volunteer and buyer labor model. But The Carter represents Habitat Roaring Fork’s first purchase of an existing residential development.
Habitat continues to rent to tenants who’ve been at The Carter since before it changed hands, and gives them the opportunity to purchase if they want and can qualify for a loan.
Units are priced based on a buyer’s income level, without income caps, starting at $320,000 for a studio, $360,000 for a junior one-bedroom and $388,000 for a full one-bedroom, for individuals or families earning 120% of the Area Median Income (AMI).
The AMI for Garfield County hovers around $72,000 for an individual, and between $82,000 and $103,000 for households with multiple wage earners, according to recent Colorado Department of Local Affairs data.
Costs for the units go up incrementally for buyers with higher incomes, to about $450,000 for a full one-bedroom for those making between 120-150% of AMI, and to about $490,000 for those making over 150% of AMI.
Those prices are somewhat below market for the Glenwood Springs area, where a similar-size, 600- to 700-square-foot unit can easily sell for between $600,000 and $800,000, depending on the property and location.
The Carter sales prices hold monthly mortgage payments to between $1,350 to $1,900, Callaway said.
“We’re meeting people exactly where they’re at, and who are used to typically paying higher prices than that for rent,” she said. “And by purchasing, they are able to come in and build equity.”
Callaway joined Habitat in May, after having worked on affordable housing in the private sector on the design and planning side.
“I was just seeing projects really struggle to get off the ground for many different reasons, so I thought this was a way that I could work on this problem more directly,” Callaway said.
The Carter fills an affordability gap for younger singles or couples who are looking for smaller living spaces that fit their current lifestyles, but its appeal runs the gamut, she said.
“We’re also seeing a lot of retired singles and single moms, so it’s really met the need of a whole sector of the population that was underserved,” she said.
So far, buyers have closed on eight units at The Carter with several under contract and prospective buyers in the process of securing financing.
Habitat did run into delays getting federal approval to convert the units to condominiums, and some loan approvals are also being delayed due to the federal government shutdown, she explained.
Jason Schraub is the chief external relations officer for Habitat Roaring Fork, and leads the various public-private partnerships that helped the project come together.
A priority purchase program raised funds for the initial $35 million property purchase, lining up private and public employers to invest in the project and reserve units on a priority basis into the future.
Those units can be sold to employees, but would not have to be relinquished if a person were to change jobs. However, the employer still retains a priority on other units as they become available, Schraub explained.
Habitat has the ability to sell up to 35 priorities to local employers. They’ve currently sold 21, he said.
Compass Real Estate is handling sales for The Carter units, and Preferred Property Management handles the on-site property management.
For more information on The Carter and other Habitat Roaring Fork Valley housing programs and the Habitat ReStore, visit www.habitatroaringfork.org