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Fields on 15th aims to provide affordable housing to families

Eases housing insecurity
Fields on 15th_Longmont_Ribbon Cutting
Fields on 15th ribbon cutting in Longmont

 

A trio of companies with diverse portfolios joined forces recently to develop a new low-income housing development in north Longmont as part of the city’s push to build more affordable homes for residents.

Fields on 15th will feature 88 units for families earning up to 50 and 60% of the area’s median income. The $25 million development is one of the first to be constructed under the city’s Inclusionary Housing Ordinance, according to a news release. 

The ordinance provides incentives for affordable housing through development fee rebates as well as a $500,000 loan from the city’s Affordable Housing Fund, which was established with the ordinance in 2019, the news release states.. 

Fields on 15th is the result of a collaboration between Hunt Capital Partners, Prospect and CVS Health. A ribbon cutting for the development was held this week at the Fields on 15th site at 800 15th Ave. 

Several company, state and local officials were on hand at the ribbon cutting, which was a football-themed event inspired by the history of the Fields on 15th, which was built on the former Peterson Football Field, the news release states.

Speakers emphasized that while Longmont is rapidly growing, some residents feel insecure about getting stable housing.

“Longmont is a thriving city, however, one in 10 residents continue to live in poverty, creating a serious affordable housing shortage that Fields on 15th is helping to address,” Hunt Capital Partners Managing Director of Investor Relations Amy Dickerson, said in the news release. “Providing affordable housing for communities creates greater access to financial stability and increases our residents’ ability to spend their limited resources on gas, food, and family activities. We’re thrilled to join our partners in celebrating the completion of this project for low-income families.”

“When people have access to high-quality, affordable housing, it puts them in a better position to take care of their health and well-being,” added Bryan Rodriguez, director of Middle Market Commercial Business Sales and Services, Aetna, a CVS Health company. “As part of our commitment to advance health equity, we’re addressing housing insecurities in communities like Longmont where we can make a meaningful and lasting impact on the lives of individuals and families,”

Fields on 15th provides new, modern housing that includes unit sizes designed to accommodate large families, at an affordable price point for workforce households in expensive Boulder County, the news release states. The development includes nine one-bedroom, 29 two-bedroom, 34 three-bedroom and 16 four bed-room apartments. The development will include a business center, community room, exercise facility, playground, picnic area, dog wash station, on-site management and parking spaces, the news release states.

The total development cost for Fields on 15th is $25 million. Hunt Capital Partners provided $7.8 million in federal low income housing tax credit (LIHTC) equity financing and syndicated the tax credits through its multi-investor fund, Hunt Capital Partners Tax Credit Fund 37, the news release states. The fund includes eight investors, including CVS Health, which made a $1.5 million investment to build Fields on 15th.

Hunt Capital Partners specializes in the sponsorship of federal and state low-income housing, historic, and solar tax credit investment funds. Prospect is a Denver-based developer of residential communities focused on infill and transit-oriented development, according to the news release. 

CVS Health is a leading health solutions company that includes over 300,000 employees including more than 400,000 physicians, pharmacists, nurses, and nurse practitioners, the news release states.

Their partnership will make inroads in Longmont’s efforts to create more affordable housing in the city, Molly O’Donnell, Longmont’s housing and community investment director said via email.

O’Donnell said at least 35 of the units at Fields on 15th will be permanently deed-restricted as affordable.

“When the city has a goal to increase the affordable housing stock by 200 units per year to reach our goal of 12% of all housing units in Longmont as affordable by 2025,” O’Donnell said, “this project helps us serve a good portion of that annual goal.”

“The City supports strengthening whatever partnerships we can to make affordable development successful,” she said.