Affordable housing community applications about to open for 52 units in Breckenridge, hundreds on the waiting list
If you live in Summit County, you already know the hard-to-find, always-coveted feeling that comes with deed-restricted housing. With the new deed-restricted Larkspur apartments opening up applications in mid-January, with 52 spots available, the Summit County Housing Authority said there are already more than 550 people who are listed as "interested" in a spot.
"Every single unit counts," said Laurie Best with the Town of Breckenridge Housing. "We have been facing this challenge for years and years; I worked on affordable housing for 20 years, and 20 years ago, we were talking about the deficit on affordable housing."
Best is incredibly proud of the latest agreement between the town of Breckenridge and Summit County, as the two went into the project as 50/50 partners in order to get the land and building of the studio, one and two-bedroom apartments built and ready. She knows the housing crisis in Summit County is far from over, but that progress has to be celebrated when it's made.
"It hasn't gotten better; it is an issue we will face forever, given our unique kind of makeup as a resort community," Best said.
The price range for the apartments goes from $1,300 a month for a studio apartment to $2,400 a month for a "really large" two bedroom apartment. The requirements (so far, as rules will be finalized later) are that tenants need to work at least 30 hours a week in the county, and adhere to the income requirements. Jason Dietz, Summit County Housing Director, said they were targeting the 70%-100% household income range in comparison to the average medium income (which, according to this report, averaged $100,611 in 2022.)
That's far better than the alternative, which sees the average home price in Summit County as $2 million at last check.
"The need feels unlimited," Dietz explained. "Every time we have an opportunity to try and mitigate the housing crisis here in the mountains, we take that opportunity."
This is far from the first affordable deed restricted housing development in Summit County, and Dietz said they've only increased in demand as time goes on. Part of that is most people who sign up for a chance to be picked are not and move on to the next development.
"The list we are working off of here at the Larkspur sits around 550 people," Dietz said. "A few years back, one of our first hotel conversions into workforce housing we had just over 100 people for 38 rooms. That list kept on going, and the folks who didn't get into that hotel went to the next one and that one was over 200 people — for 51 rooms."
The Summit County Housing Authority said it has many more projects on the horizon in the event people are unsuccessful in getting one of the 52 rooms up for grabs this round.
