“The buildings and the landscaping are just beautiful — we’re really proud of it,” said Mary Stegner, Executive Director of Partners in Housing.

Partners in Housing, which provides transitional housing and supportive services for individuals and families experiencing or at risk of homelessness, developed Bentley Commons in collaboration with two local nonprofit partners: Greccio, which will serve as the property manager and operates nearly 30 affordable apartment communities in Colorado Springs, and Rocky Mountain Land Trust, which offers affordable homeownership programs.

The grand opening marks the availability of 168 new one-, two-, and three-bedroom apartments for singles and families earning between 30% and 60% of the area median income (AMI). Notably, 28 units are dedicated to formerly homeless veterans, helping provide stability and long-term housing opportunities for those who have served.

Click here to read the full article available on the Gazette.

Article Written by Gazette Reporter, Debbie Kelly 

The post Affordable-housing expansions increase supply for low-income Colorado Springs residents appeared first on Partners in Housing.

The Moving Families Forward event featured property tours and refreshments, along with a short program where Crystal Rodriguez, Partners in Housing board member and Advisory Council chair, shared her personal story while Mary Stegner, Partners in Housing Executive Director, highlighted Partners in Housing’s efforts to guide Colorado Springs families in housing crisis from insecurity to stability, self-reliance and prosperity. Sharon Tunson, Partners in Housing board chair, also spoke.

Bentley Commons, located at 2715 Bentley Point, offers 168 new units and 24 renovated units for those who fall within 30-60% of the Area Median Income. These affordable housing units also feature amenities like on-site management and open space. There are 1-, 2- and 3-bedroom apartments, including accessible units, available.

A special thanks to our sponsors

Lay the Foundation Sponsors: Frazee Construction, Myron Stratton Home, US Bank

Welcome Home Sponsors: FirstBank, Terra Nova Engineering, Palace Construction, Harris Group Realty, NES, El Pomar Foundation and PNC Bank

Thanks also to our other supporters: O’Briens Carpet One, HFS Flooring, Comparion Insurance, Diocese of Colorado Springs and The Gazette.

The post Moving Families Forward 2025 appeared first on Partners in Housing.

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.

To read the full article, please visit here. 

The post Bentley Commons catches Gov. Polis’ eye during Colorado Springs visit appeared first on Partners in Housing.

GPR Properties is pleased to announce that Bentley Commons is open for leasing to households! 

At this time one- bedroom and two-bedroom apartments are available for those at 50%-60% of the Area Median Income (AMI). PLUS, get your first full month’s rent FREE when you sign a lease! *

First full month’s rent free

New construction

Income-qualified affordable housing

Limited availability

Visit here to see if you qualify for 50-60% AMI through the El Paso Annual Income Limit Range: https://doh.colorado.gov/2025-colorado-home-income-limits

Learn more and apply today: https://www.greccio.org/bentleycommonsleasing

Greccio Housing is acting as the property manager. For more information on the income requirements and leasing process, please go to: https://www.greccio.org/bentleycommonsleasing

The post Bentley Commons: Now Leasing! appeared first on Partners in Housing.

The 6 new building foundations are complete and, in sequence according to the development plan, each building has the framing, roofs, and windows rapidly being installed.

The first apartment building is slated to be ready for occupancy by April 2025 with each of the others following soon after. The entire project should be complete and occupied by households earning various levels all less than 60% AMI by October 2025.

We are grateful to be working with Palace Construction and many local subcontractors and vendors on this large project. Funding for the project came from partners to include City of Colorado Springs, El Paso County Housing Authority, and the State Division of Housing. The low-income housing tax credit investor is US Bank and the financing is through Colorado Housing and Finance Authority (CHFA).

Updates on the project including video updates, articles, and press releases can be found at https://partnersinhousing.org/bentley-commons-development/

To read the full Fall Newsletter, please visit here! 

The post Great progress being made at Bentley Commons appeared first on Partners in Housing.

GPR Properties, comprised of Partners in Housing, along with Greccio Housing and the Rocky Mountain Community Land Trust, acquired the development at Bentley Commons in 2009. At that time, 24 two-bedroom apartments and a community center were existing on the site. These homes have been operated as affordable rentals.

When the property was acquired, GPR Properties knew the long-term plan was to add more housing at the site next to Sand Creek with lovely mountain views. The current construction plan will add 6 buildings with 168 new apartments – 60 one-bedroom, 81 two-bedroom, and 27 three-bedroom – bringing the total to 192 to be completed by mid 2025.

Bentley Commons will house working families with children, singles, veterans, and families in transitional housing units. We are working with the US Veterans Administration and VASH vouchers and with Colorado Springs Housing Authority’s HAP voucher program as well.

All 192 apartments will be home to our community members earning below 60% of Area Median Income, with many units set aside for those at less than 30%, 40% and 50% of Area Median Income.

Access to safe, quality, affordable housing – and the supports necessary to maintain that housing – constitute one of the most basic and powerful social determinants of health. Aside from preventing homelessness, financial hardship, and stress and anxiety, housing provides stability for children and the family unit, avoiding repeated moves, from homes, schools, relationships, and the workplace.

GPR Properties has worked collaboratively on many projects over the past 20 years and are excited to be partnering with Palace Construction, Way Architects, Medici Consulting Group and with many funders to allow these efforts to reach this milestone.

Many thanks to all who provided support in the planning and efforts to overcome hurdles along the way. Major funders include US Bank, Myron Stratton Home, City of Colorado Springs, El Paso County Housing Authority, CHFA, and Colorado Division of Housing.

To read our full 2024 Winter Newsletter, visit here. 

The post BUILDING DREAMS: Affordable Housing Complex Breaks Ground appeared first on Partners in Housing.

Construction on 168 affordable housing units is underway in southeast Colorado Springs, following a ceremonial groundbreaking on Tuesday. Bentley Commons, the $64 million project, is close to 15 years in the making, as local groups have been eyeing affordable housing on the plot since 2009.

The nonprofit groups Greccio Housing, Partners in Housing, and Rocky Mountain Community Land Trust worked under one organization, GPR Properties, to bring the Bentley Commons project to life.

Lee Patke, the executive director of Greccio Housing, said that the plot of land near the intersection of Hancock Expressway and Astrozon Boulevard was originally supposed to house a series of high-end condo buildings. However, the developer at the time was only able to build two of the proposed buildings before the 2008 financial crisis forced him to abandon the project.

Patke said his organization, along with Partners in Housing and Rocky Mountain Community Land Trust were able to take on the property in 2009 and turn the existing buildings into affordable housing. He said ever since, they’ve had plans in place to expand their footprint and build more units on the land.

“We always had a plan to fully develop and fully realize the potential on that property,” he said. “It really has been a project 15 years in the making.”

To read the full article by Colorado Public Radio, please visit here. 

The post New affordable housing units to Colorado Springs appeared first on Partners in Housing.

Jan. 22, 2024

Article by Debbie Kelley

In a unique approach, three Colorado Springs nonprofits well known in the affordable housing arena have combined their brain power, leadership, money and good name to add much-needed stock for very-low to low-income residents.

The Bentley Commons expansion in southeast Colorado Springs is meaningful for the organizations as well as the community, said Mary Stegner, executive director of Partners in Housing, which operates nearly 70 transitional housing units and supportive services to families that are homeless or in danger of homelessness. It’s one of the organizations leading the development.

“It’s hard for people to understand how exciting this is; it’s finally happening,” she said.

Greccio Housing, which leases affordable rentals in 28 apartment developments, and Rocky Mountain Community Land Trust, which offers affordable home ownership programs for households with modest incomes, are the other partners in the trio of project orchestrators.

Drone footage of the 7-acre site off Hancock Expressway near South Academy and Astrozon boulevards shows the scope, commitment and complexity of the project that’s been 15 years in the making, Stegner said.

Originally constructed as luxury condominiums leasing for $300,000 apiece when completed in 2007, the developer went bankrupt as the Great Recession took hold and the housing market plummeted.

To read the Gazette’s full article, please visit here. 

The post Luxury Condo Transformed appeared first on Partners in Housing.

“This is not a baby step in meeting the need for affordable housing,” said Greccio Housing, Executive Director, Lee Patke, “Adding 168 new units is a great win and a great windfall for this community. The 168 new units are in addition to the 24 already exisiting Bentley Commons units that will be remodeled.”

The Bentley Commons Development is on Hancock Avenue near South Academy Boulevard.

Large apartment projects are happening all over Colorado Springs,

“But those are mostly market rate properties,” said Pikes Peak Housing Network, Executive Director Jill Gaebler

The Bentley Commons project is different.

This size of affordable housing project is not typical

“We see smaller properties, especially when it comes to affordable housing, because it’s so expensive to develop,” said Gaebler, “They’re 30-40 units, but to have a major project like this is huge for our community.”

“We’ve worked on this project for years with the intention of today finally happening, we closed on financing in December broke ground in January,” said Patke.

The budget required for the build is close to $65 million.

The project is possible because three non-profits, Greccio Housing, Partners in Housing and the Rocky Mountain Community Land Trust partnered to create a plan and come up with funding.

Article by Bill Folsom

To read the full article or to watch this KOAA segment, please Visit Here. 

The post 168 Affordable Housing Units Coming to Colorado Springs appeared first on Partners in Housing.