A small but important step in ensuring that working class Longmonters get a chance for stable, affordable homes is unfolding later this month with the opening of the leasing process for The Spoke on Coffman, local officials said.
Boulder County Housing Authority is releasing new housing assistance vouchers and pre-leasing for The Spoke on Coffman beginning Dec. 14, according to a Boulder County news release. Construction on the complex is expected to be finished in spring 2022, with move-ins soon after.
The Spoke on Coffman offers quality apartment style rental homes in a mixed-use development just one block west of downtown. The homes will be available to households earning up to 60% of the Area Median Income (AMI). In 2021, that translates to a maximum annual income of $70,140 for a four-person household or $49,140 for a one-person household, the news release states.
Those are typical income levels for a nurse, firefighter or bank teller, the news release states.
“The Spoke is a step in the right direction for the many households who are currently priced out of the rental housing,” said Marc Cowell, executive director for the Outreach United Resource Center in Longmont, or OUR Center. The OUR Center provides food, clothing and other resources for people facing hard economic times.
“We work with many households who have one or two incomes and still cannot afford to live in the community they work and call home,” Cowell said in an email. The Spoke development “is only a small but valuable solution to a much more complex and greater issue in our community.”
The development will provide 12 “project-based subsidies” or vouchers, for households earning below 30% AMI, or a maximum income of $35,070 for a four-person household and $24,570 for one-person household, the news release states.
The average Longmont two-bedroom apartment plus utilities costs about $1,800 to rent, said BCHA Housing Development Director Justin Lightfield in the news release. The Spoke will be both affordable but also a “beautiful” addition to downtown Longmont, Lightfield said.
“...We have the opportunity to get stable housing to families and individuals who are having a hard time financially even as they contribute to this community,” he said.
The December 14 application release for The Spoke on Coffman will take place online beginning at 8:30 a.m. at boco.org/ApplyForTheSpoke&Vouchers. Additional information is also available at www.TheSpokeOnCoffman.org.
Those needing help with the application should call 720-564-2267, where assistance will be provided in English and Spanish, the news release states.
At the same time, BCHA will also open application lists from a range of housing assistance vouchers, including the Housing Choice Voucher lottery and Mainstream voucher program for households with someone between the ages of 18 and 61 living with a disability. The other voucher programs are listed in the news release.
Boulder County Commissioner Claire Levy said anyone needing housing help should apply for applications and vouchers to The Spoke on Coffman even if they are not sure they can qualify.
“Too many people who have been members of our community for a long time are spending far too much of their income on housing, so we continue to work hard to address the affordability challenges we face,” Levy said in the news release.
