The Crested Butte News Serving the Gunnison Valley since 1999
Hoping for early 2026
By Mark Reaman
The Mineral Point affordable housing project across from the Gas Café has hit more than a few snags this year and as a result the project completion is expected to be delayed until sometime next winter in early 2026. The units were originally intended to start being occupied by local workers this fall.
The town awarded TWG, a housing developer out of Indiana, the development contract to build and collect rents from the project while management of the $16.2 million project will be done by the Gunnison Valley Regional Housing Authority or whatever entity takes over that organization since it is in the beginning of a transition phase.
TWG is familiar with the complexities of LIHTC (Low Income Housing Tax Credit) projects and hired the construction firm Streamline to be the main contractor on the Crested Butte construction project. The town has red-tagged the site at least twice, shutting down construction until violations were fixed. The project will serve those making 30-60% of AMI (Area Median Income), and the lease-up was scheduled for this August or the end of the year at the latest.
Crested Butte housing director Erin Ganser has said under the federal tax credit schedule, at least one unit in each of the three buildings must be completed and leased before the end 2026. The council has a long-term lease of 75 years for the one-acre site with TWG.
Ryan Kelly of TWG met with the council over Zoom at the July 21 council meeting and acknowledged the project’s issues.
“We subbed out the majority of the work for this project to Streamline who we have worked with before,” said Kelly, who said due to some extenuating circumstances, several site supervisors have worked on Mineral Point during construction. “We have been trying to rectify the issues with some of the subs. We are not taking it lightly. We are getting more regular updates, and we will deliver a good product. We are here to make it right. We are targeting completion for the first quarter of 2026, probably February or March.”
Kelly said the company understands the need in town for such units. “These 34 units serve a fairly low AMI,” he said. “The highest rents will be about $1,200/month for a two-bedroom unit.
“It’s a huge need and will make a difference,” Kelly said.
“Things seem to be turning around on the site,” said Ganser.
“I appreciate the sense that things are improving but need to express our frustration,” said mayor Ian Billick. “The town stretched its finances to make this happen. It is hard to hear local contractors drive by and criticize how stupid the construction is. We have lost good will and some community support for what we hoped would be a good project. The constant problems have created a problem in the faith of town government creating housing going forward.”
“We hear you,” responded Kelly. “We are there more now. We have a new supervisor on the site. We are dealing closer with the subs and will have more inspections from TWG, the architects, the investor group. The message has been clear to step up their game. We didn’t hit some milestones we needed to hit but we are trying to do it right and rectify the situation.”
“We appreciate that it appears the ship is being righted, and we are counting on a good end product,” said Billick.
“The bottom line for us is that even if takes an extra two or three months we want this to be right,” concluded Kelly. “We will do whatever it takes. We have a reputation to uphold. Taking two to three extra months in the construction phase is okay to have good product for the nest 20 years.”
“You have the full council support for that,” agreed Billick.
