Information Sessions, Site-Walks Precede Application Deadline

TELLURIDE – The race is on to win the chance to buy into the region’s newest, one-of-a-kind, mostly single-family affordable housing project located at the east end of Telluride.

Last Friday (Aug. 27) the San Miguel Regional Housing Authority opened its two-week notification period for the 18-unit, deed-restricted, price-capped Gold Run project, which is located across the street from Wilkin Court and the Lone Tree Cemetery. Now it’s just a matter of days before those hoping to score big in the lottery that will allocate the units to qualified buyers must submit their applications.

Completed applications are due to the SMRHA between 8 a.m. on Friday, Sept. 10, and 5 p.m. on Friday, Sept. 24 – no exceptions.

“There have been people planning for this for two plus years – since the project was announced,” said SMRHA Executive Director Shirley Diaz, reporting continued interest in Gold Run despite the economy and a notoriously difficult lending market that together have caused project detractors to speculate that the units won’t sell.

Diaz said that 24 people attended the three homebuyer education workshops she has held since July, including 12 at the most recent one. And that this was similar to the interest when the Town of Telluride’s Entrada affordable housing project went through the lottery process in early 2009.

“They were really there because of Gold Run,” she said, estimating that she could receive as many as 100 applications for the project. “There’s been a lot of interest from everyone attending.”

Between now and then, the SMRHA will be holding a number of information sessions and site walks to answer questions and give potential buyers a closer look at the area’s first affordable housing project undertaken jointly by San Miguel County and the Town of Telluride.

Three design-build teams created the complex through a bidding process in October 2008. They include: Highmark Development, Inc., teamed with Rani Guram Architects LLC; Kipfer Construction, Inc., teamed with Michael McAllister Architect; and Mountain Builders, Inc., teamed with Charles Cunniffee Architects LLC.

The complex includes 12 single-family homes and three duplex buildings containing one- to three-bedroom units. All the dwellings will have similar energy specifications, including highly insulated ceilings and walls and 95 percent efficient boiler systems. But because three different architects designed them, they’ll have different interiors.

Ample use of amenities like hickory cabinets with modern satin nickel fixtures, concrete, wood and bamboo flooring, knotty pine baseboards and trim, cast iron bathtubs and solid wood doors provide a feeling of luxury that most people don’t expect to accompany the affordable aspect of the project. At the same time, Energy Star-rated appliances and lighting fixtures, recycled-content or certified wood deck material, natural linoleum, tile, concrete, or wood in lieu of vinyl flooring, and recycled-content carpet and carpet pads keep it on the green side of the building spectrum.

“Gold Run is a truly wonderful community of homes,” said Telluride Mayor Stu Fraser.

“It is unlikely we could build another project of single-family homes like it in the foreseeable future.”

The two one-bedroom units located in the complex are targeted for households earning 85 percent of the average median income for San Miguel County and are priced at $194,700 and $197,100.

Five two-bedroom units in the complex are targeted for households earning 105 percent of AMI and range from $268,600 to $279,200. The remaining 11 three-bedroom units target 120 percent AMI and range from $320,500 to $359,000.

Both one-bedroom units and three two-bedroom units are listed as Tier 1 properties, meaning their owners cannot earn more than 120 percent AMI to qualify to purchase them. The remaining two- and three-bedroom units are considered Tier 2, which carries a maximum income threshold of 150 percent AMI.

One of the two-bedroom units has already been designated for sale to the Telluride R-1 School District, which was responsible to pay the construction subsidy on the unit in exchange.

Information sessions will take place in the Miramonte Building conference room at 333 W. Colorado Ave., second floor, from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Thursday, Sept. 2, and Wednesday, Sept. 8; from 2 to 4 p.m. on Thursday, Sept. 9; and from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. on Tuesday, Sept. 7, and Thursday, Sept. 9.

Site walks will be conducted by unit size and begin at the westernmost Gold Run unit located at 950 E. Colorado Ave. One- and two-bedroom units will be available for viewing on Thursday, Sept. 2, at 5 p.m. and Wednesday, Sept. 8, at noon, while three-bedroom units may be seen on Friday, Sept. 3, at 5 p.m. and on Friday, Sept. 10, at noon.

For more information visit www.smrha.org or contact Shirley Diaz at 970/728-3034, ext. 5, or at Shirley@smrha.org.