CREJ

Page 30 — Multifamily Properties Quarterly — November 2021 www.crej.com A t this point, Colorado’s grow- ing housing crisis is no secret. The state’s popularity on the national stage, combined with development challenges and materials scarcity, led to a stark imbal- ance between housing supply and demand even before COVID-19.The issue is only getting worse. As of this summer, Colorado ranked first in the nation for housing instability, per the U.S. Census Bureau’s weekly house- hold survey. Older adults in particular are feeling the pinch, with more than a third reporting they had slight or no confidence they could make their rent. Headlines about the challenges we face to create and preserve affordable housing for our aging population are abundant.They all boil down to one simple fact: Metro Denver must pri- oritize attainable senior housing and work to protect and improve the exist- ing stock of housing reserved for these populations. Examples of replicable solutions in the news are far less fre- quent.That doesn’t mean they are not out there. Our firm recently celebrated the renovation of Denver MetroVillage in the Sloan’s Lake neighborhood of Den- ver. One of the first affordable hous- ing communities in Colorado serving vulnerable seniors 62 and older, the community also has the distinction of being located in one of Denver’s hottest real estate markets. We worked closely with Metronomy Inc., a nonprofit organization created to manage Denver MetroVillage, to com- plete the renovation with the help of government programs aimed at assist- ing in the development of affordable housing and to minimize disruption to existing residents. In addition to it being a rare story of affordable housing preservation in one of Denver’s most popular neighbor- hoods, this project offers several les- sons in the power of for-profit/nonprofit collaboration to address some of the bigger challenges we face in housing. n Harnessing individual strengths. Most professionals who serve the aging adult community are not, by nature, development experts, and it’s unreal- istic to expect them to know how to most effectively navigate the compli- cated process of building or renovating a community. Partnership between nonprofits and the development com- munity is one of the most-effective approaches to meeting the challenges we face in housing – especially when it comes to areas outside of traditional market-rate work. By harnessing Metronomy’s strengths in senior care alongside our expertise in development and renovation of this particular housing type, for example, we were able to update Denver Metro Village in a way that left the nonprofit in a financial position to effectively pre- serve and maintain this essential asset in the community for years to come. n Leveraging available resources. Awareness of and experience with the various financing mechanisms avail- able for building or renovating afford- able senior housing is a huge part of the battle and a big area where the private development community can support nonprofits. The renovation of Denver MetroVil- lage was primarily financed through the Colorado Housing and Finance Authority’s noncompetitive federal 4% low-income housing tax credits.These credits are awarded to developers by the government and can then be sold to investors to obtain funding for the development and maintenance of incomed-restricted housing. With Section 8 vouchers through the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development used on more than 50% of the units, the nonprofit was able to establish cash flow that helped it main- tain the building over time and enabled it to take on the renovation. More than 120 of the units in this community are and will remain eligible for Section 8 assistance going forward, providing future predictability for the operators. The remaining units are available for seniors earning between 40% and 80% of area median income. n Enhancing and preserving existing housing stock. In addition to adding more units to our affordable age- restricted housing stock, ensuring the Collaboration needed for aging adult housing crisis Greg Glade Co-founder, MGL Partners Preservation Please see Glade, Page 32 MGL Partners recently celebrated the renovation of Denver Metro Village in the Sloan’s Lake neighborhood of Denver. One of the first affordable housing communities in Colorado serving vulnerable seniors 62 and older, the community also has the distinc- tion of being located in one of Denver’s hottest real estate markets.