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HomeMy WebLinkAboutCARE HOUSING AT WINDTRAIL PARK APTS., AMEND. P.U.D - P & F - 66-93G - P&Z PACKET - CORRESPONDENCE (5)girfArls NMINS, City editor: Mary Benant, 224-7740 Agency By ROBERT BAUN The Coloradoaq....3 -11 _99 CARE Housing has ac- quired six acres near Rol- land Moore Park for its newest .affordable housing project, a 50-unit complex that should begin construc- tion this fall, a CARE official said Wednesday. When completed, the Wmdtrail complex will in- crease CARE's holdings to 166 low-income housing secures units in Fort Collins. CARE, or Community Af- fordable Residence Enter- prises, currently manages three developments with 116 units'. "We're consistently look- ing for land, and it's getting harder and harder to find," said Brian Soukup, chair- man of CARE's board of di- rectors. "That's why we bought this one. This is the `last of the Mohicans,' being Windtrail project CARE: this close in to the city." CARE bought the land from John McCoy, developer of the Windtrail subdivision, a mixture of single-family houses and townhomes. The nonprofit housing agency paid $345,000 for the site, immediately east of Rolland Moore Park. The deal was funded prin- Thursday, March 4,1999 work will begin next month, and Soukup expects con- struction to start in the fall. Because CARE hasn't put the project out to bid, Soukup said he couldn't es- timate the total cost of the Windtrail complex. He pre- dicted the first residents would move in `within two yew" Unlike the existing three CARE complexes, Windtrail will include 10 units dedi- cated to senior citizen hous- ing. CARE's units serve work- ing families with incomes between $12,000 and $30,000, which is 30-to-60 percent of the city's median income. Currently, the medi- an income for a family of four in Fort Collins is about $50,000. )y a Fort Collins uty Development -ant, which provid- ,000. The balance, was covered by the ivestment Partner- ship Program. The Wmdtrail project was approved by the Fort Collins Planning and Zoning Board last month. Site preparation r Based on the 1990 U.S. Census, more than 18,000 households in the city earned less than the median income. CARE estimates the city will need up to 600 more affordable rental units to house low-income fami- lies. Housing is considered af- fordable if residents spend 30 percent or less of their in- come on rental or mortgage costs. Agency breaks ground on affordable housing complex By DAVID PERSONS The Coloradoan 4-7.06 Construction began Thurs- ,day on a townhome complex wthat will add 50 affordable 'housing units in Fort Collins. The $5 million Windtrail complex by Community Af- fordable Residence Enter- prises, or CARE, will be on a °six -acre site off Rolland Moore. Drive just east of ;Shields Street and Rolland iMoore Park.It will offer 40 !family units and 10 senior units when it is completed in January. It is CARE's fourth afford- able housing project. Housing is considered af- fordable if a household can obtain it for 30 percent or less of the households income. Chadrick David Martinez, executive director of CARE, said Windtrail is an example Who qualifies To quality for CARE housing, must follow based on family size. applicants must: To apply or gel more Infor- ■ Have permanent job. mation, call 282-7522. CARE's ■ Have a minor child or chil- administrative offices are at dren living with them. 1303 W. Swallow Road, Build- ■ Meet guidelines CARE ing 11. of the partnerships that are required to make affordable housing projects a reality. He said the city gave about $900,000 to the pro- ject through;: its HOME grant program and a com- munity development block grant. Martinez also said people such as land planner Jim Sell and architect John Dengler play a big role by doing criti- cal work for little or nothing. "Those kinds of partner- ships are some of the things you have to do," Martinez said. "And you need a num- ber of funding sources, too." Sell, who has worked on similar projects over the years, said he's glad to help. "Everybody has things that pull their heart strings," he said. "Doing this is one of those." Dengler, a longtime area architect, designs upscale homes. "I really love (working with CARE) ... because there's such a need for it" he said. "I'm proud to work for them." When Windtrail comes on line, CARE will have an in- ventory of 166 affordable housing units. That's something to be proud of said Rusty Collins, executive director of Neigh- bor to Neighbor, another agency dedicated to securing low-income housing. Neigh- bor to Neighbor has bought 110 affordable housing units in Fort Collins and Loveland in the past three years. Collins expects the recent affordable housing push by CARE and Neighbor to Neighbor to continue. "I think in the next year or two in Fort Collins and Loveland, things will pick up even more," he said. "That's because we're becoming more sophisticated in how we do this, and we're seeing new construction heading into that direction."