CPR News: Colorado Springs needs more housing that more people can afford. These groups have some ideas on how to do it
Members of a Colorado Springs-based group hope a report they recently submitted to the City Council will spur a broad range of efforts to bring down housing costs for low-income — and middle class — residents.
The city’s Affordable Housing Collaborative, made up of local government leaders, nonprofit organizations and real estate developers was tasked by city council members a year ago to hold a series of public meetings to identify practical actions that could be taken. Their “Housing for All” report looks into ideas ranging from financing and land use changes to advocating for regulatory changes at the federal and state levels.
Mary Stegner, executive director of local nonprofit Partners in Housing, helps lead the collaborative. She said the group also looked to other cities for ideas; places like Austin, Texas, and Grand Rapids, Michigan, that have had recent success in improving housing affordability.
Stegner pointed to sales tax rebates for affordable housing properties as one way to make more projects feasible. That, combined with reduced fees on necessities like hooking up utilities, could save tens or even hundreds of thousands of dollars on starting up a property. Those savings could then be passed on to renters.
However, even if every idea in the report was implemented, some say it wouldn’t be enough. That’s because the housing needs in Colorado Springs, like most of the Front Range, are not limited to those with the lowest incomes.
“Just like any basic economics. If you have a supply shortage and high demand, the price for that product is going to go up,” said Darsey Nicklasson, president of local real estate development firm DHN.
She has been focusing her attention on the group she calls the “missing middle”: those who make too much money to qualify for placement in affordable housing, but still end up paying up to half of their income to find housing in the city. In a city like Colorado Springs, or indeed like some of the state’s mountain communities, those people may be working traditional middle class jobs like teachers, police officers, first responders and construction workers.
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This article was written by Dan Boyce.
