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 directors, 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.
Moulton said that EPHA would strive to assure that the parcel, including the cabins on site, would be brought up to modern safety and environmental standards.
“We would factor all of that in as part of our due diligence process,” he explained. “I think, in broad terms, anytime we take over an existing property we make sure that it is up to a minimum standard of habitability and mitigate all of the standard safety concerns.”
The EPHA executive director committed to making certain that cabins now located at 381 S. St Vrain Avenue are suitable for human occupancy.
“I agree it is likely, if this is going all the way to a purchase, that EPHA would be required to invest some money into the units that are already there,” he said.
I own a home near this property and I am so glad to see that it is going to be improved. It’s long overdue.
EVV,
I take issue with the posting of these pictures and the associated commentary attached to each photo.
I question the motivation of such a post. What was the intent and desire to share this level of disparaging remarks about people homes and where they live?
I believe simple commentary about the need and a desire to see the quality of housing improve on the site would have been sufficient.
It’s important to remember, people and families call these home, and disparaging them in the highly public and in our face manner as was done here feels disparaging to our neighbors who call this home.
I was a subscriber to this publication, but I will not be renewing my subscription to the Estes Valley Voice as I find this coverage sensational and disparaging. I am extremely disappointed and will not be renewing my subscription as a result.
Words have power, the press has power and a duty to reflect on how that power should be yielded.
Scott
Photography is an important part of journalism, and it is often said a picture is worth a thousand words.
Photos of this property speak volumes not about the people who rent there, but about who owns the property. These photos tell a compelling and disturbing story of property ownership, and I hope the community is rightly upset by the condition of these units.
While the Estes Valley Voice supports efforts for properties that can be made available for the people who work in the community, the property that the Estes Park Housing Authority is under contract to purchase has more than a dozen substandard housing units. The EPHA should not consider putting any money into attempting to bring these dilapidated 85-year-old cabins up to code. It would be throwing good money after bad. They are not salvageable.
The EPHA and Town of Estes Park cannot take over as landlords of this property in the condition the properties are in. The condition of these housing units is a human rights issue.
The renters need to be offered safe housing and be relocated, and these buildings need to be razed immediately. The Estes Valley Voice
Mr. Moulton – your outrage at the EVV is misguided. The photos and the observations about the condition of the rentals are more a well-deserved reflection on the owners of the property (previous and current) than they are on the people living there.
I think the EVV showed great restraint in not naming the decades long slumlords – longtime ‘respectable’ Estes Valley residents – who sold the property in September 2023 to NDK PROPERTIES LLC for two million dollars (source: Larimer County Assessors Office for parcel # 2530305039). The new LLC owners will be pocketing a 300 thousand dollar profit (≈ 15%) in a little over a year without putting a dime back into the property. Rest assured that many of us long-time locals welcome the light being shed on these appalling conditions that have been ignored and overlooked for decades, and will gladly continue to support the EVV, while others prefer to turn a blind eye to inconvenient truths.
No one should have to live in one of these homes. The renters should receive the support needed to live somewhere safe. I can’t imagine what the heating bills must be in the winter! It is a waste of energy and they are spending money they need for other things. The owners should be ashamed to say that they own it! I own rentals nearby and we keep them in good condition and I wouldn’t mind living in them. These need to be torn down and something that is energy and space efficient put in place. Thank you, Patti, for bringing this to our attention.