Nearly 9,500 residential structures may be built in the foreseeable future now that members of the Colorado Springs City Council have voted in favor of annexing the land needed for that construction.
In a preliminary vote, members of the council have allowed for a move to annex some 3,200 acres on the southeast side of the city. The land in question is known as Amara, with developers saying that the site could also eventually see the building of roughly 2 million square feet of commercial space.
The project belongs to the Colorado Springs-based company La Plata Communities, which has said that the property will also see the immediate building of parks and trails, while offering space for future school construction.
It is thought that the development could eventually be called home by more than 24,000 people.
The annexation proposal has been met with a variety of public responses, with both residents and city officials saying that the project itself could go a long way in responding to an ongoing shortage of housing units in metro Colorado Springs.
Individual homes in the master planned community are expected to be listed at just over $300,000 all the way up to $680,000, with some units set to be priced below those figures as affordable housing.
The Colorado Springs City Council is expected to take up the annexation issue again in a meeting on August 13 that could see the passage of several ordinances specific to the project, as well as a vote on an official review plan.
By Garry Boulard