The arrival of 83 new affordable apartments in north Longmont is coming through a variety of funding sources, including the use of COVID-19 recovery dollars for housing needs. .
The Crisman II apartments are scheduled to open in summer 2023 and will be located just north of the Crisman I apartments near the intersection of Colo. 66 and Main Street. Crisman I was completed in 2018 by MGL Developers and provides 114 new affordable housing units, according to a city staff report.
City Council this week approved a trio of agreements that allowed funding for Crisman II, which is estimated to cost $27 million to build.
Crisman II is also one of only two projects the city has used for American Recovery Plan Act stimulus funding, Molly O’ Donnell, Longmont’s Housing and Community Investment manager, said via email. Longmont received $12.97 million in ARPA funds to help communities rebound from the COVID-19 pandemic.
Thus, the city “is utilizing a funding source that is not usually available to us,” O’Donnell said.
The total ARPA funds committed to Crisman II will be $1.5 million, according to a city staff report. Longmont is also using $402,915,097 in Community Development Block Grants for Crisman II, the staff report states.
The Longmont Housing Authority is a co-developer with MGL Developers on Crismann II. MGL is the applicant for city building permits and is required to provide $104,943 in financial securities for the public improvements to ensure that if the project fails to be finished, the city has funding to complete the public improvements, the staff report states.
Mayor Joan Peck Tuesday night praised O’Donnell and other city staff for putting a comprehensive funding package together for Crismann II.
“Nice job in juggling all the finances,” Peck said.
Crisman II apartments will be available for households with incomes between 30% and 60% of the Area Median Income, or AMI, with the units serving an average AMI of 50.48%, the staff report states.
Both Crisman developments will be connected with common amenities and have the same unit layout and aesthetics, the report states. The project was awarded low income housing tax credits in 2021.
Closing on the land acquisition and financing is targeted for completion by mid-May and construction is scheduled to begin immediately, the report states.
