“There’s been rumors of self-dealing by the Estes Park Housing Authority, giving reduced rent to staff members,” said Tom Hochstetler, owner of Estes Park’s Hoch Resorts, during a neighborhood meeting Thursday evening at Fall River Village, a former resort converted into a workforce housing rental property.
The meeting was held to explain why an additional 13 townhomes on the top parcel of the property need to be sold at market value, to make the entire project financially viable.
But Hochstetler, who owns the nearby Silver Moon Inn, as well as Appenzelle Inn and Hotel Estes, took the opportunity to ask about things he’d heard “around town” about the leasing of Fall River Village.
“Let me make one thing very clear: there are no dealings as you describe,” said Scott Moulton, executive director of EPHA.
“There’s no staff of the EPHA who currently live on site. There are staff members of the Town who live on site, and they went through the same process every other applicant must go through. No one is being provided with reduced rent. Period.”
Neither are certain people given preferential choice of units, which was another rumor squashed by Moulton at the meeting.
“There’s really nothing else to say,” he said. “Any rumors to that effect are blatantly false and quite frankly, I personally feel are out of line, and it’s really unfortunate.”
Other questions were more on point, including how much the three- and four-bedroom units might sell for.
All will be listed at market value, said Pete Levine, EPHA’s real estate development manager, to raise approximately $9 million to add to the equity investment made by the Colorado Housing and Finance Authority for a final loan that will be significantly lower than the $34 million bridge loan taken out to acquire the property.
At that point, the debt service on the property will be able to be paid with income earned from the 74 workforce housing rental units at Fall River Village, Levine explained.
This EPHA-managed property has a workforce requirement that at least one member of each unit must work within the boundaries of the Estes Park School District.
“In addition, income certifications will occur upon move-in,” said Matt Lynn of CHFA, “the Proposition 123 statute requires that the developments supported through the Equity program be income-restricted to an average of 90 percent Area Median Income.” Rents will be kept between 60%-80% area median income, Moulton said.
At this point, all the upper rental units are leased, and about half of the lower parcel units are full.
The units planned to be subdivided into townhome plats and then sold are located on the upper parcel. There will be no restrictions against vacation home licenses for the units that will be for sale, said Moulton. “That’s what they have always been used for,” he said.
About one-third of the Estes Park workforce commutes from somewhere else, and about 70% of those would live in Estes Park if housing were attainable, said Moulton.
Levine explained that purchasing Fall River Village for $34 million equates to about $400,000 per unit, “much less expensive than building” new workforce housing.
Fall River Village offers six- or 12-month leases, but at this time, there is only one unit on a six-month lease, said Moulton.
Other plans include having childcare onsite, which could serve about 10 infants and toddlers, said Carlie Bangs, the Town of Estes Park’s housing and childcare manager. The plan is to evaluate a four-bedroom unit on the upper parcel for this purpose.
EPHA’s headquarters, currently housed in the US Bank building downtown, will move its offices to the lower level of the previous SkyView event center. Moulton said that the upper outside level may be made available for small events. Storage lockers, such as those for bicycles, are planned for the residents’ use in the basement of this building.
Moulton said that plans are in the works to install speed bumps, or similar traffic-slowing devices, along the main drive of the complex, which connects the US 34 bypass with US 34 business, downtown.
“We plan to move through the Town’s entitlement program to subdivide the property and amend the PUD,” said Levine of the next steps in the process.