The largest resort operator in North America is going to war with its namesake town. The Vail town council late Tuesday voted to condemn a parcel where Vail Resorts plans to spend $17 million to build affordable housing for 165 workers. Dozens of Vail Resorts executives, employees and managers crammed into the council’s chambers Tuesday […]
housing crisis
Posted inHousing, News, Politics and Government
Colorado lawmakers are betting millions that factory-built homes are a solution to the housing crisis
Colorado lawmakers are aiming to increase the state’s stock of modular homes amid a statewide housing shortage that’s left many residents priced out of the market. House Bill 1282, known as the Innovative Housing Incentive Program, would create a $40 million loan program that modular homes manufacturers could use to pay workers and cover operating […]
Posted inBusiness, Housing, News
Vail Resorts plans big investment in affordable housing. Town of Vail promises a fight.
Vail Resorts last week announced plans to fast-track four housing projects at resorts in Utah, British Columbia, Vermont and Vail, adding 875 units for the company’s workers as part of a promise made last month to refocus on employees with more pay and housing. The projects will be somewhat easy at Park City Mountain Resort, […]
Posted inNews, Outdoors, Outsider
Record high calls for help are stressing Colorado’s mountain firefighters, emergency responders
There are more people living in their vacation homes in Colorado’s resort communities. There are more people visiting and staying in short-term rental homes. “But it’s a challenge to quantify any of this,” said Jake Andersen, deputy chief of operations for the Aspen Fire Protection District. Fire chiefs like Andersen can gauge one impact of […]
Posted inHousing, News
These Coloradans faced foreclosure not from their mortgage lender, but from their HOA
By Brittany Freeman, Rocky Mountain PBS. Data analysis by Sophie Chou and research by Mariam Elba, ProPublica This article was produced for ProPublica’s Local Reporting Network in partnership with Rocky Mountain PBS. Sign up for Dispatches to get stories like this one as soon as they are published. AURORA — In a year when it felt […]
Posted inBusiness, News, Outdoors, Outsider
Colorado mountain towns can now use tourism tax revenue to deal with visitor hordes, housing shortage
Voters in mountain towns could soon redirect lodging taxes traditionally collected to lure visitors toward housing and recreational infrastructure. Gov. Jared Polis signed House Bill 1117, the bipartisan legislation allowing that option, into law Thursday in Edwards. Since 2002, voters in 29 Colorado counties have approved a lodging tax for tourism marketing. The new legislation […]
Posted inBusiness, News, Outsider
The source of Colorado’s high country housing crisis: a doubling of home prices and sales
The rules are changing in the high country. As the labor crisis lingers, community leaders are beginning to address the root cause of the challenges that are strangling mountain valleys. They are cracking down on short-term rentals. Redirecting the flow of tax dollars toward affordable housing. Adjusting economies anchored in tourism to focus on residents, […]
Posted inClimate, Energy, Environment, Equity, Housing, News
This is the first net-zero affordable housing project in Colorado’s high country. It certainly won’t be the last.
Jeremy Duncan enjoys scrolling through apps and websites regularly to check his family’s energy consumption at his home in Basalt. “Holy Cross shows you how much you are saving, and SolarEdge has a feature where you can look at solar panels and see which panels are used most,” Duncan said. “You can break it down […]
Posted inBusiness, Economy, Housing, News
Colorado’s pandemic housing-assistance program now open to non-pandemic applicants
State and local resources have provided housing aid to many victims of the devastating Marshall fire in Boulder County. But another barely touched pot of money comes from an unlikely source: federal COVID relief funds. The Emergency Rental Assistance Program, which pays up to 15 months of rent for those experiencing pandemic income loss, has […]
Posted inBusiness, Economy, Energy, News, Outsider
Solar-powered homes caught in crossfire as a rural Colorado electric co-op aims to squeeze more from second-home owners
A plan by the Sangre de Cristo Electric Association to squeeze more money from absent property owners is sparking a revolt among the cooperative’s members. The electric co-op wants to increase its monthly service charge while cutting the cost of power for customers who use the most electricity. As Colorado’s mountain communities struggle with the […]