Colorado Governor Jared Polis, the Colorado Office of Economic Development and International Trade and the Colorado Housing and Finance Authority (CHFA) have announced Fraser’s St. Louis Landing affordable housing project as one of the 11 recipients of voter-approved Proposition 123 equity funds.

Proposition 123 was passed by voters in November 2022 and established the State Affordable Housing Fund to advance the development and preservation of affordable housing in Colorado. 

The announcement on June 4 states that Proposition 123 funding will be providing investment capital for an estimated 1,017 low and middle-income multifamily affordable housing units across the state. The Proposition 123 equity program offers below market-rate equity investments for developers focused on building low or middle-income housing.

Additionally, the release states that residents will benefit from the “Tenant Equity Vehicle, a program being designed to share Proposition 123 program earnings with tenants to assist with building up savings that can be used for down payment assistance or other important needs.”

Thomas Bryan, executive director and chief executive officer of the Colorado Housing and Finance Authority said that these Proposition 123 investments will support the creation of “quality affordable housing in communities located throughout Colorado.”

“In addition, the Tenant Equity Vehicle is an exciting innovation to further support housing stability and economic prosperity for residents supported by the Equity program,” Bryan said.

The town is working on the St. Louis Landing housing project in phases. Phase 1 included plans for an early childhood center and 100 housing units to serve people with average median incomes (AMI) of 80-120%, according to the town’s website.

AMI is a calculation completed for all counties and household sizes across Colorado. These numbers vary for each county and household size. These numbers are then used to determine things such as affordable rental rates.

However, due to the investment from the affordable housing financing fund, the town will now be able to create more units for a total of 129 housing units and reach greater affordability at an average of 90% AMI, according to Fraser assistant town manager Sarah Catanzarite. The investment will allow the town to build more and serve more AMIs.

“The Prop 123 financing if successful  allows us to brings a third building into the equation that serves some of those lower AMIs,” Catanzarite said.

A total of $67,500,074 has been preliminarily approved for the eleven recipients. Final award details will be determined during the underwriting process for each project, according to the release. With the projects announced on June 4, approximately $252 million has been awarded through the Affordable Housing Financing Fund, according to the release.

The news release states that St. Louis Landing Phase I was granted $12,900,000 for the creation of 129 units for tenants earning 30%-120% of the AMI.

The Fraser Board of Trustees passed a resolution that approved the conditional changes to the current development agreement with Mountain Affordable Housing Developers at their meeting on June 4. The resolution reflects the inclusion of the third building for phase 1 and additional units at lower AMIs.

Ongoing updates on funding are available at ColoradoAffordableHousingFinancingFund.com and people can sign up to receive newsletter updates.