December 2-December 15, 2015 —
COLORADO REAL ESTATE JOURNAL
— Page 9AA
Economic Development News
The Colorado Springs Com-
munity, including the larger Pikes
Peak region, has been named
recipient of the inaugural Air
Force Space Command Commu-
nity SupportAward for support to
the mission and personnel of the
21st Space Wing and Peterson Air
Force Base. The award trophywas
presented at the Air Force Space
Command Headquarters at Peter-
sonAir Force Base Nov. 12.
“We are pleased with this
award, which recognizes the
efforts of numerous regional
agencies and volunteers in sup-
port of the mission and people
assigned to Peterson AFB,” said
Maj. Gen. Mark Volcheff, USAF
Retired, chairman of the Colo-
rado Springs Military Affairs
Council. “The competition was
significant, revealing excellence
in community support programs
and activities at the six major Air
Force Space Command bases
across the country.”
The award, established in Feb-
ruary, recognizes the community,
which provided the most sig-
nificant mission and installation
needs support to an Air Force
Space Command base. Five com-
munities – Aurora; Cocoa Beach,
Florida; Colorado Springs; Santa
Maria, California; and the South
Bay area of Los Angeles – were
invited by the Colorado Springs
Military Affairs Council as spon-
soring organization to submit
nominations for the 2015 award.
A panel of eight judges (one
from each of the submitting com-
munities and three fromAir Force
Space Command) evaluated the
nominations on five factors: com-
munity size and resources for
support; base and unit complex-
ity and support needs potentially
served by community support;
actual programs and activities
by community organizations
supporting the unit mission and
personnel; supporting endorse-
ments; and community support
recognition through awards and
media coverage. Scoring was
further analyzed to eliminate
any potential “regional bias” by
any of the judges; the analysis
showed an unbiased scoring pro-
cess throughout.
Colorado Springs was noted for
considerable support from local
branches of national agencies as
well as local organizations and
governmental support reflected
in resolving road and base access
issues.
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The Metro Denver Economic
Development Corp. released the
11th edition of its “Toward a
More Competitive Colorado”
report. The annual benchmark
study analyzes Colorado's
strengths, challenges and oppor-
tunities for future job growth
and economic expansion.
First published in 2005, TMCC
is the foremost effort to compare
Colorado's competitive position
against the other 49 states. The
study is researched by the Metro
Denver EDC's Chief Economist
Patty Silverstein, along with
Senior Economist David Hansen
of Development Research Part-
ners, and is presented in coop-
eration with Wells Fargo.
According to Silverstein, more
than 10 years of data paints a
broad picture of Colorado’s per-
formance through periods of
both economic expansion as well
as economic downturns. Find-
ings show that Colorado has
emerged as a “destination state”
for both companies and workers.
“We’ve found that over
this period that Colorado has
excelled following two reces-
sions, with considerable strength
in economic performance and
employment growth compared
to other states and countries,”
said Silverstein. “The state is a
significant global competitor in
attracting new industry, jobs and
investment.”
This year's report shows that
Colorado is the No. 3 state for
employment growth – at 3.5 per-
cent – for the second straight
year. The most dire year for job
growth in the past 10 years was
2010, when the state ranked 40th.
All 18 innovation measures
reported as strengths, with the
state tallying top 10 rankings
in 15 measures. Further, since
Colorado is now the location of
a regional U.S. Patent and Trade-
mark Office, business leaders
expect innovation to position the
state favorably for years to come.
Another area where Colorado
maintains a significant competi-
tive advantage is in the health of
its workforce, which is first for
physical activity and also the sec-
ond-most highly educated in the
country (behind Massachusetts).
TMCC also draws attention to
areas that challenge Colorado’s
competitiveness. Since its incep-
tion, the report has called out
the threats faced by declining
funding for higher education,
with tuition costs skyrocketing
to offset declining state support.
In addition, this year’s findings
show another disparity – that
Colorado isn’t keeping pace in
graduating sufficient numbers
of students for key professions,
including teachers, nurses and
engineering technicians.
Another of the state’s persis-
tent challenges lies in its perfor-
mance in key K-12 rankings.
“We see Colorado’s perfor-
mance in K-12 education as
merely average,” explained Tom
Clark, CEO of the Metro Denver
The Denver Office of Economic
Development announced the ini-
tial round of affordable housing
investments made through the
city’s new Revolving Affordable
Housing Loan Fund. The OED
has approved letters of agreement
with three separate multifamily
rental developments that will pro-
vide 294 housingunits in theHale,
Northfield Stapleton and West-
wood neighborhoods.
“This incredible group of proj-
ects is indicative of the true power
of Denver’s new Revolving
Loan Fund,” said Denver Mayor
Michael B. Hancock. “These are
signature housing deals that will
play a critical role in keeping Den-
ver an affordable and accessible
city.We expect that eachwillmake
lasting contributions to our resi-
dents for generations to come.”
The Revolving Affordable
Housing Loan Fund is seeded
with $6 million from the city and
county of Denver, along with $3
million from the state of Colo-
rado Department of Local Affairs
and $1 million from the Colorado
Housing and Finance Authority,
which also administers the fund.
Each of the following projects
has been approved for 30-year
gap financing loans through the
fund:
Ash Street Apartments: Located
within the redevelopment district
at Ninth Avenue and Colorado
Boulevard, the Ash Street Apart-
ments will provide 112 housing
units to households earning up
to 60 percent of the area median
income (or $47,940 for a family
of four). The five-story structure
will offer units ranging from one
to three bedrooms, with each
including an individual patio. The
development, located at 1126 Ash
St., will receive $1 million from
the Revolving Loan Fund. Proj-
ect developer is Koelbel and Co./
Mile High Development.
Westwood Crossing Apart-
ments: McDermott Properties
LLC is developing a 2.19-acre
site at 3390 W. Alameda Ave. into
the four-story Westwood Cross-
ing Apartments. The project will
provide 98 units (one to three
bedrooms) for households earn-
ing up to 60 percent of the area
median income. The mixed-use
development will include com-
mercial space on the ground floor
for small business and/or retail.
Revolving Loan Fund financing is
$1 million.
Northfield at Stapleton Apart-
ments: Located north of Interstate
70 at Northfield Boulevard and
Spruce Way, Northfield at Staple-
ton Apartments will include 84
units, ranging from one to three
bedrooms, for households earning
from 30 to 60 percent of the area
median income. Developed by
Northeast Denver Housing Cen-
ter, the three-story building will
include private patios/balconies.
The project is receiving $900,000
from the Revolving Loan Fund.
Each of the funded projects
received four percent Low Income
Housing Tax Credits through
CHFA, yet they each had a gap
in needed financing in order to
become feasible.
Once fully deployed, the
Revolving Loan Fund’s initial
cycle of $10 million in financing
is estimated to produce approxi-
mately 600-700 affordable units.
Loan repayments will revolve
back into the fund, providing a
means for growth and additional
housing loans in future years.
OED estimates that the fund can
cumulatively produce more than
1,000 units within approximately
12 years, and upward to 1,700
units within 16 years.
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