Affordable housing project catches Gov. Polis’ eye during Colorado Springs visit
Bentley Commons, a joint project of three Colorado Springs housing-focused nonprofits, will open leasing in January for the first of six buildings in a $65 million expansion of a former luxury condominium site off Hancock Expressway near South Academy and Astrozon boulevards.
About three months later, the first renters will move into the new apartments, said Lee Patke, executive director of Greccio Housing, one of the three organizations orchestrating the project.
The other five new buildings will come online four to six weeks apart following the initial opening, he said. Mary Stegner, executive director of Partners in Housing, and Nate Clyncke, executive director of Rocky Mountain Community Land Trust, make up the other partners in the development.
When completed in mid-2025, 168 new one-, two- and three-bedroom apartments of independent living for families, singles and veterans earning between 30% and 60% of the area median income will be on the market.
Together with the existing 24 units on the site, the development will feature a total of 192 apartments. Twenty-eight units will be reserved for veterans who receive housing vouchers and assistance through the federal Department of Veterans Affairs.
“We’ll have 44 of the 192 at 60%, but the majority will be for 50% or below, for which we have very high demand,” Patke said. “We see no problem filling these units. We’re pretty excited; it’s a big project.”
The complex spans more than 7 acres and has been 15 years in the making. It’s unusual because of the structure of three local nonprofits undertaking the effort, he said, since developments of this size normally involved out-of-state investors and overseers.
“This project is important to our three organizations for the benefit of our community,” he said.
