A proposal to create more affordable housing in one of the most expensive cities for housing in the West could accelerate construction costs.
That’s the take by several development groups on an affordable housing mandate proposed by the City of Denver that would require those who are building projects with ten or more apartment or condominium units to set aside up to 15% of the structure for affordable housing.
Developers opting to forego the mandate’s requirement could end up paying fees equal to $250,000 a unit. Such fees would then be deposited in the city’s affordable housing fund.
In a statement, Laura Aldrete, director of the Denver Community Planning and Development department, said, “Anyone who has been in Denver for some time can tell you how difficult it can be to find a place that’s affordable, especially if your income has not increased as much as rents and home prices have over the past decade.”
As proposed, the actual number of required affordable units could change depending on the price of any given complex’s rents and where exactly the projects are built. The higher 15% would most likely apply to projects in upper end neighborhoods, while just 8% of units would need to be affordable in middle income neighborhoods.
Less controversial, the proposal also calls for offering zoning and financial incentives, including permit fee reductions and flexible parking requirements to offset the cost of building affordable units.
According to city documents, expanded affordable housing options are particularly needed for “people who make too much to qualify for traditionally subsidized housing, but not enough to afford the high costs of housing in Denver today.”
Equally challenging is the question of availability, according to the Denver Post, which earlier this year noted that there was an average of “14 applicants for every vacant apartment in the Denver metro area” in 2021.
The public comment period for the proposed affordable housing mandate has a deadline of March 14.
By Garry Boulard
