ROARING FORK BROADCASTING COMPANY
Anxiety over budget constraints and an opaque picture on benefits led Pitkin County to a tepid response on a funding request from the local Habitat for Humanity.
Roaring Fork Valley Habitat CEO Gail Schwartz presented the case for a $1 million contribution to a housing plant and training facility from the county at Tuesday’s Pitkin Board of County Commissioners work session, to which the BOCC offered lukewarm reception for the initial discussion.
Schwartz presented the funding ask as an opportunity for Pitkin County to get “first dibs” on the interest list of 2,900 units.
“We have applications from both people that work for the county and people that are working in the county, including interest [from] folks that are in the air traffic control tower,” Schwartz said during her presentation.
Commissioner Patti Clapper said she’d rather see the funds spent on other county housing priorities, like the Phillips Mobile Home Park. The county could end up utilizing the plant for housing at Phillips, but county staff said in their recommendation that it’s not a guarantee and they’d likely follow a request for proposals process.
“We’re anticipating, looking at the county’s projects, that the numbers today are not going to be the numbers tomorrow,” Clapper said. “We’re looking at having to either cut things out or downsize things or modify things to try and be able to afford them moving forward.”
Schwartz said she has not yet approached Garfield County for funding due to time constraints, and Commissioner Greg Poschman said they’d like to see other counties on board before Pitkin County commits the funding.
Commissioner Jeffrey Woodruff said he was concerned about the requested contribution being such a large share of the general fund housing money.
Schwartz said that with 200 units annually anticipated for at least the next 10 years, the investment is solid.
“We’re one economy now, it’s all interrelated,” Schwartz said. “I think in proportion to your investment, in proportion to the overall investment, it does fit with what your expectations would be for housing in your county.”
For Commissioner Francie Jacober, the scale was the problem.
“I’m concerned about encouraging growth in Colorado,” she said. “I think that by making houses of this type, and with this price tag, we are encouraging people to move here. We’re not just housing people who are already here.”
Commissioner Kelly McNicholas Kury pushed back on the skepticism, saying that the county budget benefits from a lucrative resort economy that should pay back into regional housing.
“We benefited from the thriving nature of our economy that thrives on the backs of people who don’t have housing, can’t afford housing and commute hours of their day due to the housing problems,” McNicholas Kury said. “I think that what is being asked for here is a fraction of the multiplier of benefits that happen down the line.”
The money would come from a $4.5 million in the General Fund set aside for affordable housing purposes back in 2022. This habitat ask is not eligible for the new affordable housing property tax revenue approved by Pitkin County voters in November. p> Habitat leases 10 acres of land from the city of Rifle for $10/year on which it is constructing a 65,000 square-foot Modular Housing Production Facility and Workforce Training Center.
The facility is estimated to produce 200 modular homes annually. Modular home production is a type of prefabricated housing in which homes are constructed in pieces and assembled on a permanent foundation. The homes will be net-zero energy homes.
The units would help Habitat meet its construction goals throughout the valley and provide a local manufacturer to other entities looking to construct affordable modular homes, as well as provide 64 jobs in Rifle, Schwartz said, and train 100 students annually in professional development.
Capital costs for the project are projected to be $18.4 million, but Habitat is set to secure a $25 million bond in the next two weeks.
The project will continue with or without funding from Pitkin County, as it is financed almost entirely through tax-exempt revenue bonds via the city of Rifle. But the money would cut down on financing costs.
Per their lease with the city, the facility is to produce the units for workforce housing projects in Western Colorado and for sale to the Habitat and other parties solely for installation in-deed restricted workforce housing developments in Western Colorado.
Schwartz expects the first of the modular units to be ready by “this time next year” at a price of $160 per square foot. According to Realtor.com, the current median list price for a home in Carbondale is $927 per square foot.
Schwartz did not immediately return a voicemail seeking comment for this story on Thursday.
The BOCC will see the ask again in the form of a resolution, which will afford them another opportunity to discuss the potential contribution and vote on it.
Board members asked staff and Schwartz to come prepared with potential funding promises from other municipalities and other possible uses for the $4.5 million.