Housing Authority Under Contract to Purchase Property on S. St. Vrain

Estes Valley Voice Podcast

Story by Hank Lacey
The property will likely be redeveloped for mixed-use, high density workforce housing
The Estes Valley is likely to soon have another affordable or workforce housing option in the community.

Governing directors of the Estes Park Housing Authority approved last week a contract to purchase the property at 381 S. St. Vrain Ave., a site now occupied by a car wash facility, convenience store, and 15 small cabins.

EPHA may be looking at the property, located adjacent to Colorado Highway 7, as a potential mixed-use, high-density housing location.

“It’s really well-placed for an infill-style, little-bit-higher density project just because of its proximity to the seasonal transportation,” Scott Moulton, the organization’s executive director said in an interview this week. “It has walkability.”
“From a raw density standpoint, 24 housing units could be developed on the site, using the density bonus allowable under a Planned Unit Development (PUD) by utilizing the Residential Multi-family (RM) zoning allowances,” Moulton wrote in a July memorandum to EPHA’s development committee. “Realistically, as discussed and communicated to Town [s]taff in February, density of 32-36 p/acre units would be greatly beneficial to a site of this nature.”

The memorandum appeared to refer, in the last quoted line, to the per-acre density.

Moulton has indicated some uncertainty about the financial viability of the property.

In the July memorandum he wrote to the housing authority’s development committee, which was also shared with EPHA board members Pete Smith and Phil Frank, the agency executive wrote that the “[d]ensity allowance needs to be increased to make this more financially feasible” and that “[t]here is a speculative nature to a potential purchase of this property, predicated on a change to density allowance.”

During the Oct. 23 interview with Estes Valley Voice Moulton emphasized his belief that the property can hold significantly more homes.

“I think the site lends itself well to higher density than what is currently allowable under the code,” he said, referring to Estes Park’s development ordinances. Moulton suggested that 22 to 24 units may currently be permitted by the town.

EPHA agreed to pay a list price of about $2.3 million for the parcel. The agency anticipates a down payment of about $550,000, according to documents provided to the housing authority’s board of directors on Oct. 16.

That down payment would apparently come from funds made available through Proposition 123, which established the State Affordable Housing Fund.

A contract that Moulton executed on behalf of EPHA on September 27 indicates that closing would not occur until late 2025. The housing authority would need to find and secure any necessary financing by mid-January.

At present the 1.52 acre site hosts families living in cabins constructed in 1939, according to a Coldwell Banker website that indicates listed properties. The convenience store on the site—Famous Eastside Food Store—has been open since about 2010, according to Buzzfile, and generates about $200,000 in annual revenues.
Read full story here:
https://estesvalleyvoice.com/2024/10/28/housing-authority-under-contract-to-purchase-property-on-s-st-vrain/