Colorado Real Estate Journal -
The first residential development in the Glenwood Meadows master-planned community is slated to break ground this summer and bring with it much-needed affordable housing to Glenwood Springs. Next month, Denver-based Steele Properties LLC anticipates starting development of Glenwood Green, a $14 million, 60-unit affordable property. Financed with low-income housing tax credits, Glenwood Green is dedicated to households earning 30 percent to 60 percent of area median income, or anywhere from $16,350 to $46,470 for one- to four-person households, for example. “We think the development provides a lot of needed in town housing,” said Jennifer Cloud, community relations associate for Steele Properties. “It is a fairly expensive little town,” added Cloud, noting Steele Properties expects Glenwood Green to be attractive to commuters who work in the city but can’t afford to live there as well as service workers, school employees and teachers, hospital workers, emergency workers and individuals who have always lived in the city. “Glenwood Green will be one of the few communities up there that is affordable. There is not a lot of multifamily in the area that is like this,” she commented. Preleasing will start early next year for Glenwood Green, which is slated for completion in early summer 2013. Glenwood Green will comprise three three-story residential buildings and a clubhouse located at Midland Avenue and East Meadows Drive, across from Target, which, along with Lowe’s, anchors the 405,000-square-foot retail portion of the master-planned community. The community features a mix of 28 one-bedroom units of 802 sf, 20 two-bedroom units of 1,044 sf and 12 three-bedroom apartments of 1,178 sf. All of the apartments include balconies and high ceilings. Glenwood Green also features a computer room and fitness center, and it is adjacent to a community park. PBA Architects designed Glenwood Green to not only the city’s design standards but also the master-planned community’s heightened design standards, noted Cloud. As well, a height variance request was granted for the development by Glenwood Springs. Shaw Construction is the general contractor for the apartment project, one of four affordable housing communities financed through the LIHTC program that the firm is building. “These building projects just don’t happen independent of the LIHTC allocation,” said Diane Miller, Shaw Construction vice president. “The low apartment vacancy rates are creating a larger gap between market-rate rents and affordable rents for many senior citizens and families. These residences will quickly fill up and will be little relief to current market demands.” “Glenwood Green will be a really nice addition to the community and we’ve received a lot of positive feedback about the project. We are very excited to start building,” added Cloud. “It’s great for the city and will bring a large number of units, activity and construction jobs to the area.” Monroe Group Ltd., a partner company of Steele Properties, will manage Glenwood Green upon completion. PNC Bank is the tax credit equity investor. Steele Properties’ portfolio spans 10 states