As a housing shortage continues to push up prices, Greeley city leaders and developers are working to provide a wider array of housing options while leveraging partnerships to fund affordable housing projects.

Ben Snow, director of Greeley’s Department of Economic Health and Housing, said the housing market continues to be incredibly tight for both single- and multi-family homes. A shortage of multi-family units spurred construction over the past year, with almost two-thirds of the city’s building permits in 2021 being multi-family housing.

Across Northern Colorado, that mix was reversed, with single-family units making up almost two-thirds of permits issued throughout the region, according to the city’s growth and development projections report.

While Greeley’s median household income increased 5.9% from 2018 to 2019, the median home sales price jumped 14.6% from 2020 to 2021. According to The Washington Post, the average rent in Weld County has increased by 11.9% since 2019. For many renters and homebuyers, these factors make the housing market difficult to navigate.

City leaders are using a variety of tools to help relieve pressures and create a community where more local workers have the opportunity to find a home. The city’s update to its development code last year, for example, means more opportunities for different types of housing throughout the city.

Because of the time it takes for development to begin after the planning process starts, the new code isn’t totally evident. But city leaders anticipate these new opportunities will coincide with a changing concept of housing.

The city’s minimum lot size was decreased from 6,000 square feet to 2,500 square feet in certain zoning districts. The mobile home zoning district was expanded to micro-housing, opening up opportunities for tiny homes and giving more chances for affordable development.

Carol Kuhn, chief planner for the city, secured a $187,500 grant from the Colorado Department of Local Affairs to conduct a housing needs assessment, with a $62,500 match by the city. With this information, city officials plan to prioritize areas for affordability and use sub-area plans or overlay districts to give an expedited review and reduced fees to those coming in with affordable housing projects.

The city also uses private activity bonds to help support tax credit projects. By combining the city’s roughly $6 million private activity bond each year with the county’s roughly $8 million, they’ve been able to get about $14 million assigned to the Colorado Housing and Finance Authority, which then can award the developer with tax credits to keep the projects affordable.

Snow noted two projects supported by these bonds: Copper Platte at the east end of the Greeley Mall, a 224-unit development with a 60% area median income requirement, and Immaculata Plaza II, which will be 30% area media income housing for seniors in north downtown Greeley.

The city has also applied for grants supported by recent legislation, one a planning grant and another a catalyst grant. A partner organization and a project that’s nearly ready to build are required. The city is looking at the Greeley-Weld Habitat for Humanity’s Hope Springs project with a community partner, which is set to include more than 300 apartments and 174 lots for Habitat homes.

The city has been awarded the planning grant and hopes to get a final decision on the catalyst grant in a couple of weeks.

Cheri Witt-Brown, executive director of Greeley-Weld Habitat, said the partnership will be similar in some ways to the nonprofit’s partnership with Commonwealth to develop Mission Springs in Evans. The partner in Hope Springs, a local developer, is donating both resources and labor, relieving a great amount of pressure off the Habitat team, Witt-Brown said. Partnerships such as this are crucial to Greeley-Weld Habitat developing larger-scale projects, Witt-Brown said.

Hope Springs is set to include amenities to form a more complete neighborhood, with an on-site child care center, nearby grocery stores — the project being located by the Walmart and Sam’s Club off 23rd Avenue — access to public transit and recreational opportunities including a mini soccer field and a disc golf installation.

“The amenities that we’re putting into this project are very intentional in the way our families live,” Witt-Brown said. “And the way they like to socialize, recreate … That idea’s to demonstrate affordable housing communities do not have to be less than.”

The city is also pushing for amenities as part of a way to support smaller housing choices. Snow said the average size of houses has increased regularly since after World War II, when traditional homes were much smaller. But changing demographics are leading to a bigger market for smaller, higher quality homes with more community shared space.

“We are really eager to have a community that is developed by design and not default,” community development director Becky Safarik said.

The city’s long-term growth will require changing density in some way, Snow said, with 110,000 people today on about 50 square miles and long-range growth estimates of 250,000 people on 90 square miles. Though it’s not for everybody or every location in the city, some people want to be close to amenities, parks, infrastructure and public transportation. It’s up to the city to encourage a whole spectrum, he said.

In addition to relieving construction costs, Safarik said the city works to attract higher-wage jobs to the community so local workers can afford to live in the city as well.

“This is not just labor market and not just housing, it’s quality of life, too. It’s folks volunteering, giving philanthropically, adding to the quality of life of their own community, experiencing community,” Safarik said. “If you have the chance to live somewhere, that tends to be where you invest your other time and treasure as well. It’s that well-balanced, sustainable lifestyle that we’re really trying to promote.