LITTLETON, Colo. — The City of Littleton has broken ground on a new affordable housing development — one of its first in decades.
When it opens next year, Montview Flats will feature 50 units for families making 30 to 70 percent of the area's median income.
Montview Flats is the first major affordable housing development built as part of the city’s Inclusionary Housing Ordinance (IHO), which passed in late 2022.
“We're starting to see it come to fruition and work,” said Julie Latham, city housing policy analyst.
The IHO requires new developments with five or more units to designate at least five percent of those as affordable units.
“Developers who don't want to build the affordable units can pay a fee-in-lieu. And so that fee-in-lieu then goes into an affordable housing fund for the city that we can use as gap financing for projects such as [Montview Flats],” Latham explained.
Conveniently situated in the heart of downtown Littleton, the property will provide residents easy access to the light rail and nearby businesses, many of whose employees struggle to afford living in the city.
“Now those businesses will be able to have housing close by, within walking distance for their employees,” said Corey Reitz, executive director of South Metro Housing Options, which has been serving Littleton’s affordable housing needs for decades.
Latham told Denver7 the city has seen a growing number of folks who can no longer keep up with rent prices.
“The greatest need that we're seeing in reports is for people making zero to 60% of the area median income,” she said. “Firefighters, healthcare workers can really help support workforce housing.”
This echoes a similar trend countywide. The current median household income in Arapahoe County is $98,000. County commissioners formulated a comprehensive plan to address growing housing needs several years ago.
Montview Flats is one of four such projects scheduled to open within the next two years, with potentially more on the way.
South Metro Housing Options is overseeing the development of Montview Flats and looking ahead to more opportunities through the city’s affordable housing fund.
“We have a potential development on West Littleton Boulevard. That would be 73 units. We're very early in the process, but that would be our next development,” said Reitz.
Denver7 asked the City of Littleton about potentially revising the IHO to keep up with the affordable housing need.
“It is always a conversation, and it's always in review, and in this marketplace, it's kind of hard," Latham said. "Things are really uncertain, so it can be difficult for that analysis, but we are constantly asking, how is this working? Is this working? And taking a look at where are those places and spaces that we could do more and generate more revenue or generate more units.”
