Gorman and Co. Hosts Community Meeting on Phase 2 of Wintergreen Affordable Housing Project in Keystone

Gorman and Co. is busy with the second phase of its Wintergreen affordable housing project, Wintergreen Ridge. The first phase created the Village at Wintergreen apartments, which were completed just a few years ago.

To make the second phase of the project feasible, Gorman & Co. earned approximately $1.5 million in state and federal tax credits, and received just over $700,000 in grants from the Summit County government. The company received that funding in November and now Kimball Crangle, president of the Colorado market for Gorman, said the company plans to begin the eligibility phase this month.

As the company prepares to move forward, it has held a few community meetings — one in February and one last week — to get feedback from various stakeholders. Crangle said these meetings were for the Keystone Owners Association as well as other nearby homeowners associations.

Although these meetings are not mandatory, they allowed the public to ask questions about the project. Crangle said most of the questions were about the site plans, the mix of units and some of the design elements of the development.

“We haven’t heard a lot of feedback because it’s a pretty incredible area median income that we’re able to target,” Crangle said.

While the square footage of the units has yet to be determined, the breakdown of unit types has been finalized. All units will be housed in a building at the rear of the existing development, and Crangle said they will closely resemble units already built.

Of the 47 units, there will be 12 one-bedroom, 29 two-bedroom and five three-bedroom units. The remaining unit will be a two-bedroom space reserved for Gorman and Co. employees.

Of the one-bedroom units, one will cost 30% of the area’s median income, meaning that unit would be for one person earning $20,190 per year or two people earning $23,070 . Another of these units will be priced at 50% of the region’s median income. According to the latest data from the Summit Combined Housing Authority, the rent for this unit would likely be priced at $901.25. The rest of the 10 one-bedroom units would cost 60% of the square footage, meaning the rent would likely be around $1,081.50.

Of the two-bedroom units, two would be priced at 30% of area median income, meaning they would be for two people earning up to $23,070 or three people earning up to $23,070. at $25,950. Three of the units would be priced at 50% of the area’s median income and the rent would be around $1,081.25. The rest of the 24 units would be priced at 60% of area median income with a monthly rental rate of around $1,297.50.

Of the three-bedroom units, one would be priced at 50% of the area’s median income and the rent would likely be $1,249.38. The other four units would be priced at 60% of the area’s median income, and the rent for those units would be around $1,499.25.

“Compared to what’s on the market (these rents) are pretty affordable,” Crangle said at Thursday’s meeting. “…We are really excited to be able to add more of these types of restricted deed housing to the Wintergreen community.”

Currently, Crangle said 40 of Wintergreen’s nearly 200 units are now the area’s median income housing type offered at Wintergreen Ridge. Of those units, Crangle said they are “very full with very long waiting lists.”

In addition to offering a mix of rents, Crangle noted that these units will have access to other amenities already housed at the Wintergreen site, such as the dog park, various community gathering spaces, access to trails from the US Forest Service nearby, access to the Summit Stage bus stop nearby as well as access to the Keystone shuttle that crosses the property.

Summit County Housing Manager Jason Deitz said there will be more opportunities for the public to engage and provide feedback through the public eligibility process, although no community meetings will be held. is currently scheduled for later this year. When completed, this project will provide additional units to the community that Dietz says are nearly impossible to bring online.

“It’s all rental housing at 60% (area median income) or below, and the 60% and even above is really hard to develop, but it uses low income housing tax credits. income in addition to county grants and other grants to run it,” Dietz said.

Crangle said that weather permitting, construction on the project will begin in the first quarter of 2023 and will likely take about 22 months, putting Wintergreen Ridge’s completion date in late 2024 or early 2025.