Colorado lawmakers revive affordable housing right of first refusal

Nine years ago, one of Silverthorne’s few income-restricted housing properties was sold to a private firm. The sale — at a price that was double the property’s assessed value — raised worries in the high-cost mountain community that the new owner of the Blue River Apartments might lift rent caps that had kept its 78 … Read more

East Colfax communities in Denver and Aurora seek help staying in area

Photographs line the walls, plants sit on windowsills and a Buddhist altar is arranged atop a dresser. Nearly every surface of the living room is covered by an item or memento collected by Thin Soe, Ye Ye Thin and their five children over the years in their three-bedroom apartment in Denver’s East Colfax neighborhood. Since … Read more

Colorado lawmakers’ push for more high-density housing irks cities

Colorado cities are ready for a legal fight if necessary to stop a state push to overhaul local housing density rules and allow more tightly packed development along train and bus routes. While many local governments support the goal of concentrating people in apartments around transit hubs so they drive less, mayors have objected to … Read more

Denver, Boulder require new development to contribute to affordable housing

When Gov. Jared Polis and Democratic allies sought to overhaul land use rules in the state last year in hopes of spurring more housing development they faced immediate blowback from municipalities intent on protecting their local control. Seeking housing solutions From the mountains to the prairies, Colorado’s housing crisis is squeezing state residents in ways … Read more

Westminster’s housing crisis faces local opposition, state demands

Jodi Lovejoy can look out the window of her Westminster apartment and see the mountains of the Front Range. She can track the rolling clouds and watch the weather change over the peaks, something she used to do with her children. The neighborhood is quiet, dotted by mature trees. She doesn’t own the two bedrooms … Read more

Colorado legislators’ pro-tenant bills include for-cause eviction

As the clock neared midnight on the penultimate day of last year’s legislative session, a core piece of progressive housing policy sputtered toward a bitter, procedural end. The bill would have granted “just-cause” eviction protections to Colorado renters, essentially giving them the ability to renew an expiring lease even if their landlord wanted to move … Read more

Lakewood apartment project at edge of Belmar Park faces opposition

A raft of ducks perched and waddled on the frozen surface of a pond at Belmar Park on a recent fall morning — foreground bustle for a double-crested cormorant rookery located on a small island just offshore. This 132-acre park in the middle of Lakewood, Colorado’s fifth-largest city, is tagged as a “hotspot” on eBird.com, … Read more

Houston homelessness roadmap pays off big, offering lessons for Denver

HOUSTON — The apartment complex where Teresa Eddins now lives is so quiet that “you can hear a pin drop” at night, she says — a stark contrast to the constant noise she withstood while living beneath a bridge two years ago. She was one of the first people who moved into a former hotel in … Read more

Gov. Jared Polis unveils housing, transit vision for 2026

LAKEWOOD — Gov. Jared Polis unveiled his vision for housing and public transit for the final three years of his term Thursday, a roadmap focused on the governor’s plan to tackle the interlocking crises of affordability and climate change through land-use reform and improved planning. The “Roadmap to Colorado’s Future: 2026” lays out six broad … Read more