The Colorado Department of Transportation has been deeply involved in identifying and implementing solutions to the workforce housing challenges in Summit County, which has reached crisis levels since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020. The Town of Frisco has been engaged in a collaboration with CDOT on a unique partnership opportunity to develop rental workforce housing on an underutilized property in downtown Frisco originally owned by CDOT and recently transferred to the Town of Frisco prior to beginning construction. Media is invited to join local elected officials, the Town of Frisco and CDOT in celebrating the groundbreaking of this new affordable housing development on Tuesday, May 16 at 1 p.m.
This project, known as the Granite Park, will create 22 rental units available at affordable rent levels for CDOT employees, and for employees that work for other businesses in the Frisco area. CDOT believes the creation of new affordable inventory in Summit County will greatly enhance the department’s ability to recruit and retain maintenance employees. The stretch of I-70 through Summit County maintained by the CDOT forces that would benefit from this housing project is one of the state’s most crucial corridors for both tourism and commercial economic vitality.
When:
1:00pm on Tuesday, May 16, 2023
Please RSVP to Stacia Sellers at 720-280-5291 or stacia.sellers@state.co.us
Where:
The event will take place at 619 Granite Street, Frisco, CO, where the workforce housing site is located.
Interview Opportunities:
- Executive Director Shoshana Lew, CDOT
- State Senator Dylan Roberts
- Mayor Hunter Mortensen, Town of Frisco
- Jason Golden, President of MWGC
- John Lorme, CDOT Director of Maintenance and Operations
Initiative Background:
On August 25, 2020, Frisco Town Council approved the Workforce Housing Planning Agreement between CDOT and the Town of Frisco to develop a workforce housing project on the lot owned by CDOT located at 619 Granite Street, Lots 18-24, Block 12 in the Town of Frisco. The agreement lays the foundation to jointly undertake all necessary actions to design and develop workforce housing units by requiring CDOT and the Town to share all costs 50/50 (excluding each agency’s staffing and personnel costs). This initiative helps address the critical need of recruiting and retaining a sustainable workforce.
In 2022, the Town of Frisco and CDOT were joined in this unique partnership by the Colorado Department of Local Affairs (DOLA), which awarded $1.5 million dollars to the Town of Frisco to help bring Granite Park to reality through their Innovative Housing Opportunities Incentive grants. The DOLA, through the Division of Local Government, awarded more than $18M in funding across 13 counties in Colorado through this program. These 14 Innovative Housing Opportunities Incentive (IHOI) grants will provide 1,872 additional housing units, providing housing for approximately 4,867 people across Colorado.