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What tools will best support affordable housing development in an ever more expensive regional market?
SUMMARY
czb returned to Wheat Ridge in 2022 to help the City develop a strategy for increasing housing production, especially the production of affordable housing. In 2021, the State of Colorado had begun an effort to incentivize local municipal actions aimed at increased affordable housing production, and asked that counties, cities, and towns study the viability of implementing new tools at the local level, such as zoning reforms, fee waivers, and density bonuses. Adoption of tools to support housing affordability would then qualify local goverments to access implementation funds.
Over the course of six months, czb worked with City Council and the Wheat Ridge staff team to understand the city's housing market, its affordability situation, and the math of housing development in the Denver region. The final strategy and action plan, adopted in January 2023, focused on preservation and upgrading of existing naturally occurring affordable housing, leveraging private sector development for inclusionary housing outcomes, and supporting local affordable housing providers through regulatory adjustments and financial subsidies.
Engaging the Wheat Ridge Community in the Conversation
An in-person Open House early in the project gave residents a chance to provide feedback on housing issues that mattered to them. Community members had the opportunity to ask questions and discuss the topic with City Staff and members of the czb team.
Analysis reveals challenges, but also opportunities that can be leveraged with the right actions.
Rather than focus on the depths of problems that Wheat Ridge could not solve on its own, the market analysis zeroed in on clear opportunities that the City could work on right away.
The first was Wheat Ridge's relatively large supply of aging but affordable rental units that could become good quality affordable housing if they received new investment in exchange for preservation of affordable rents. The action plan includes a NOAH (Naturally Occurring Affordable Housing) preservation program in which public investment in older rental properties is used to "buy" affordable rents for a defined number of years.
The second was the private sector's recent success in delivering attached townhomes for purchase, and multifamily units for rent. The development economics of both housing products suggested that inclusionary requirements were likely to be feasible for new construction. The action plan includes zoning changes that require some affordability in certain zone districts, and adoption of a policy that requires some affordability when public incentives (such as tax increment financing (TIF) subsidies) are employed, as they often are for multifamily rental projects.
Read the Wheat Ridge Affordable Housing Strategy and Action Plan
City Council Workshops Critical to Success
Throughout the project, members of the czb team met in workshop settings with the City Council three separate times to share findings from the market analysis, discuss strategic implications, and weigh the city's potential opportunities. By including City Council early and often, the group came to understand the market and the economics of housing development in the community. Council also had a chance to shape the strategic recommendations in ways that fit the community's political and fiscal realities. When it came time for the official adoption of the Strategy and Action Plan, members of City Council were knowledgeable about, and comfortable with, the analysis and recommendations. The "no surprises" approach to developing policy and strategy with City Council smoothed the way for adoption and quick implementation.
Post-Project Impacts
Wheat Ridge quickly gets to work, implementing strategy and taking concrete actions to support affordable housing.
Before the Strategy and Action Plan was even adopted, the Wheat Ridge City Council granted a necessary zoning change for an affordable housing project in one of the city's key corridors, citing the analysis and strategy discussions that had occurred throughout the process with czb. The City Council also began discussions to implement a major recommendation of the Action Plan---the establishment and funding of the Wheat Ridge Housing Fund to appropriate dedicated resources to support affordable housing activities.
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