Officials in Boulder have struck a deal with developers to preserve 200 rental units for low-to-moderate income residents. City of Boulder spokeswoman Sarah Huntley says officials wanted to avoid the possibility of the property being turned into luxury apartments.
“We have very limited ability to build new housing here in Boulder, because we certainly want to honor the open space and things like that that make Boulder, Boulder. But if we have an opportunity to take an existing building and turn it into something permanent and affordable for families in need, we see that as a plus," she said.
“Rather than leaving them free to go to the market process and likely be turned into market-rate or frankly luxury apartments, we teamed up with private developers who were interested in rehabilitating them and preserving them as permanently affordable units."
Public-private partnerships are being explored more often by local governments as a way to save permanent affordable housing stock. Boulder is allocating $8.25 million for the renovation project.
