Homestead affordable housing nearing completion

Nearly half of the units now occupied

By Kendra Walker

The long-anticipated Homestead affordable housing project in Mt. Crested Butte is nearing the finish line, with new residents moving in over the past several months and construction of the final group of units on schedule and slated for completion in September.

The Homestead development in the Prospect Homestead Subdivision consists of 22 two- and three-bedroom deed-restricted residences, ranging in size from 1,150 to 1,600 livable square feet plus attached garages. The for-sale project has been in the works since 2018 and faced hiccups along the way when its previous developer, Homestead Housing LLC, failed to fulfill contractual requirements to construct the units, leaving an incomplete construction project in 2021. The town paid Homestead Housing $750,000 in a settlement agreement for all the Homestead property rights and then hired contractor Bywater Development to redesign, reconstruct and finalize the project.

The first certificates of occupancy were issued in March of this year and new residents continue to move into the new units. Mt. CB town manager Carlos Velado said that 12 units have closed. “Ten units remain and we expect them to be completed over the next two months,” he said. 

Closing dates for the remaining units are on track and roadwork is underway, including grading in preparation for paving, which is scheduled for the first week of August.

“We are targeting completion of the project, including paving of the Homestead Subdivision roads, by the end of September,” said Velado.

Contract owners of each Homestead unit were drawn in a lottery conducted by the Gunnison Valley Regional Housing Authority. Those who held a contract before Bywater took over the project were given the opportunity to maintain their ownership status with the new iteration and according to Velado, eight units are or will be owned by households from the original development. “Additionally, the new units will accommodate four households with members working for the Town in the Parks, Finance and Police departments,” he said. 

The town has also purchased two of the Homestead units to rent to town employees or local workers. 

Velado said the town is working on a lease for one of the units with a current employee and the Homestead deed restriction has a hierarchy in selecting preferred prospective tenants, starting with employees of the town or Crested Butte Mountain Resort, then to employees of reserve metropolitan districts, then Mt. CB businesses, special districts or self-employed workers in the town, followed by employees of Crested Butte and then in Gunnison County north of Jack’s Cabin Cutoff.