The Crested Butte News Serving the Gunnison Valley since 1999
Interested in purchasing or entering a master lease agreement
by Kendra Walker
The Gunnison Watershed School District is shifting its approach to addressing employee housing needs, recruitment and retention. During their September 14 meeting, the school board agreed to move away from the idea of developing housing units on district-owned land to instead pursue partnerships with upcoming housing projects in the region.
The school board began its housing discussions in 2023, working with housing specialist Willa Williford to assess the housing needs of the district’s employees with a staff survey and evaluate housing feasibility and potential paths forward. The board then issued a housing statement expressing their official interest in participating in finding housing solutions for its employees.
Currently, the school district owns a duplex in Crested Butte for employee housing, which includes two, two-bedroom/two-bathroom units. The district also owns three small parcels of land in Gunnison that could be suitable for potential housing development.
Last fall, the district issued a Request for Proposals (RFP) for potential affordable housing development plans on the district’s Gunnison properties.
The district received three responses; however, with the new superintendent transition and the district finishing up its major school building renovation projects, the board put the process on hold.
During recent school board meeting discussions, superintendent Bill Summers noted that the housing market has evolved significantly since discussions began, pointing to major developments on the horizon including the Whetstone units being available as early as January and several potential large-scale projects in the Gunnison area.
“That RFP was about us developing our own project,” he said. “Because the landscape has changed since the 2023 study and there have been numerous housing projects from other providers, that idea might not be the best move forward at this point.”
Summers and board members also recognized the value of the district-owned parcels in Gunnison for long-term student growth in the valley. “It may be short sighted of us to develop property that is ideal for school buildings and facilities,” said Summers. “If we ever want to add a classroom to the elementary school building and Pathways, right now we have property to build off that in a meaningful way. If we develop those into housing, we don’t have that ability.”
Summers recommended that the board formally close out the previous RFP and notify the applicants. He proposed the district issue a new RFP aimed at established housing projects currently under construction or in the planning pipeline, with the goal of securing three to four housing units in the Gunnison area through direct purchase or master-lease agreements.
“They all have potential of us going in on agreements on behalf of the district. They all provide housing in the shorter term than us going out and building on our property,” he said. “We would put out a request to those companies in the process of building projects about to begin or already in the works. We’re looking at providing solutions to the district for fairly immediate housing in the Gunnison area.”
Summers said they would prioritize projects capable of delivering housing no later than the summer of 2028. Regarding funding, the board had previously allotted up to $2.5 million from its Capital Reserve Fund in their housing statement.
The board also expressed interest in issuing another staff housing survey to better gauge current employee needs. Summers recommended developing the survey in conjunction with the RFP, and noted they should monitor the November ballot outcomes regarding school financing and the state legislative housing initiatives.
“There may be some housing initiatives that move forward this spring we’d like to keep an eye on. I’m not saying we wait that long, but we’ll take those things into consideration before we make the final selection on the RFP,” he said. “I think we can start the work on the RFP and then we can finalize it based on the survey and November election.”
The board agreed and voted to move forward with the process of developing an RFP for affordable housing.
