The Crested Butte News Serving the Gunnison Valley since 1999
County settles on GVRHA transition plan for 2026
By Katherine Nettles
As the Gunnison Valley Regional Housing Authority (GVRHA) enters its final month before dissolving, county-wide discussions are still underway about how to manage the housing responsibilities it oversaw for the last 15 years. The Valley Housing Fund has launched a new Housing Help Center to help get housing information out to people more easily, and Gunnison County officials have confirmed they intend to fold management of the GVRHA’s home loan portfolio and real estate properties into the Gunnison County Housing Authority, a different entity.
Housing Help Center
The idea behind the Valley Housing Fund’s new Housing Help Center is to offer accessible information to locals interested in renting, purchasing or just looking for more information about either option.
“Affordable housing is confusing, and we wanted to create an online hub of resources and general information,” explained Lauren Koelliker, executive director of the Valley Housing Fund in an email to the CB News. “The Housing Help Center is useful for anyone curious about how all the pieces fit together, for people seeking housing, and for employers trying to help their staff find a place to live.”
The Valley Housing Fund was established as a nonprofit in 2010 to provide funding and outreach to affordable housing initiatives in the Gunnison Valley. In the time since the organization has contributed more than $3 million to aid in the development of 247 new homes in the county.
The new help center aims to share available resources for renters and buyers, explain housing terms like area median income (AMI) and deed restrictions and match people to local housing organizations and partners that can help them.
More information can be found at vhfund.org/housinghelp/.
County Housing Authority transition
The GVRHA was funded through the end of 2025 under an intergovernmental agreement (IGA) between the organization and local government bodies. As 2026 nears, the county’s own housing authority is preparing to take on a large bulk of that work—at least temporarily.
Gunnison County has been in conversation with the town of Crested Butte, town of Mt. Crested Butte and city of Gunnison trying to determine how to keep a relatively unified path forward to manage housing inventory and rentals in the valley.
County commissioner Laura Puckett Daniels shared an update in November that after the past several months of sorting out the legal and administrative work needed to decommission, the GVRHA is ready to transfer its home loan portfolio and real estate property interests to the Gunnison County Housing Authority in compliance with state and federal guidelines.
“At the same time, we have continued property management, deed-restriction compliance and homeownership program operations without interruption, and we have worked closely with the Department of Local Affairs (DOLA) to maintain existing tax credits and loan programs,” she reported.
Gunnison County has said it will manage all affordable housing properties in the GVRHA portfolio, and that it will continue running the GV-HEAT program in 2026 under county administration until a long-term plan is solidified. “We know how important this [GV-HEAT] program is for helping residents improve energy efficiency and reduce utility costs, and we will ensure it continues smoothly while we evaluate where it best fits in the long term,” wrote Puckett Daniels.
The final GVRHA board meeting of the year is scheduled for Thursday, December 11, from 2:30 to 4:30 p.m.
“This transition is not about closing a chapter—it’s about building a more stable, responsive, and coordinated foundation for housing work across the Gunnison Valley. We would welcome your presence [at the meeting],” said Puckett Daniels.
