School board considers affordable housing proposal

Donate property for 20 deed restricted modular homes

By Kendra Walker

The Gunnison Watershed School District board is considering a potential option for building affordable employee housing in Gunnison that could help its ability to attract and retain its workforce in the future. During their May 19 meeting, the school board heard a proposal from the nonprofit Rural Homes Colorado, which develops affordable housing specifically to help support local workforce needs in rural communities.

Last summer, the board agreed to engage in housing conversations to seek potential partnerships and opportunities to house teachers and staff. The school district owns a duplex in Crested Butte that it rents out to employees, and it also owns three small parcels of land in Gunnison that are suitable for housing development.

Paul Major of Rural Homes Colorado identified the district’s Old Bus Barn and Gunnison Community School parcels as ideal building sites that already have utilities running up to the lot lines. He proposed a partnership in which the school district would donate its land and Rural Homes would build 20 deed restricted modular homes between the two sites. The organization would leverage state funding and factory-built duplex models to keep the house prices low.

He explained that the school district donates its land and Rural Homes pays for and executes all pre-development, planning, construction and selling costs. Eight units would be built at the Old Bus Barn parcel at N. 11th Street and Ohio Avenue, and 12 units by the Gunnison Community School at Arthur and 11th. The school district would purchase 10 units at a pre-set price to be used as employee rentals, and the other 10 would be sold to the public through a deed restricted housing lottery. Major estimated the home prices would be approximately $295,000 for a 1,000 square-foot two-bedroom, $395,000 for a 1,200 square-foot three-bedroom, and $450,000 for a 1,600 square-foot four-bedroom. 

Major said to move forward, Rural Homes requests a direct procurement process (rather than the district sending out a request for proposals) in order to submit a letter of intent to the state by its July 1 deadline to apply for funding and secure those approximate home costs. Rural Homes would then expedite the review and planning process with the district and city of Gunnison to begin construction in spring of 2026 for completion in fall 2026. 

Major explained the houses are built at a modular factory facility in Buena Vista, which allows them to take advantage of manufacturing efficiencies and keep costs down. “The key is to do more and more in the factory because you have a controlled environment,” he said. “Construction costs are rising 5% a year and we’ve been able to save 30% on our affordable projects through the factory model.”

Major told the board that he believes Rural Homes is the only nonprofit like this in the state, and their goal is to prove that the model exists for building affordable housing in small, rural communities. “The state is ready to do projects like this. It wants to see communities leaning in,” he said. “There’s a lot of money being spent on analysis, but not a lot of effort being spent on getting people in homes.” Rural Homes recently completed three pilot workforce housing developments in Ridgway, Ouray and Norwood. 

“Our M.O. is to build for the community and to do it quickly,” he said. “We know if you can’t house the teacher, the deputy sheriff, the town planner, etc., you’re gutting your town. But you have to find a builder who is willing to chase all this different funding and who is not going to make a profit. That’s why we’re doing it, because nobody else is going to do it.”

“The big question is how much money we have,” said board president Tyler Martineau. “July is quickly approaching, but I understand the push for this timeline to achieve these prices.”

“It’s a short timeline,” agreed superintendent Leslie Nichols. “I do understand the concern and share it.” She told the board that this housing proposal is the closest she has seen to hitting all the marks for the district. 

“I think that it’s a unique opportunity,” said board member Mark VanderVeer. “I think it’s worth the discussion to see what we could hit and if we could hit it by July. I’d like to know what we would have to know to make a decision by July.”

Based on the board’s direction, Nichols plans to gather more information for the board, including looking into the district’s available resources, a value assessment of the district’s property, purchase costs, number of units and whether the district is obligated to issue an RFP. The board will review and discuss the topic at their next meeting on June 9.