Englewood Herald > News
Senior apartment building nearing completion
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| The Terraces on Pennsylvania awaits the finishing touches with the first tenants expected to move in about mid-December. The 62-apartment building is an Englewood Housing Authority-authored project designed to provide affordable apartment living to low- and moderate-income seniors. Photo by Tom Munds |
By Tom Munds
Crews in hard hats move in and out of the structure, installing appliances and completing the final touches as the opening date nears for the Englewood Housing Authority’s Terraces on Pennsylvania senior apartment building.
“Everything has come together and, with a lot of help from the state and county, this project to provide low-cost, nonsubsidized senior housing is about to become a reality,” said Dawn Shepherd, authority director, as she toured the site and a model apartment.
“The construction company has been great and worked with us to carry out the architect’s vision of this project,” she said. “Everything looks great and it is even better than I envisioned from the drawing. The colors are vibrant and the views are great. Provided we get city occupancy approval, we expect the first tenant to move in about Dec. 12.”
So far, the authority has about 10 seniors who have indicated they want live at the new facility. Shepherd said interest will increase once the building is open and people can tour the model apartment. For information on the project and apartment availability, call 303-789-9578.
The five-story building is at the corner of South Pennsylvania Street and U.S. 285. It contains a ground floor parking garage and 62 apartments on the upper four floors, 22 two-bedroom units and 40 one-bedroom units. The second floor has an expansive community room, complete with a kitchen, office, exercise room and an east-facing outdoor terrace. There is a west-facing community outdoor terrace on the fifth floor.
The authority selected Burgwyn Co. as the project developer for the building, which was constructed on about a half-acre of land.
Rent for the units in the building will not be subsidized, but because the project will be built primarily with tax-credit funding, there will be income restrictions for the residents, requiring the renter to earn 40-60 percent of the average median income in the metro area to qualify to live in the building.
“This project will fill the need for housing between Simon Center, which is heavily subsidized, to the Meridian, that is market value,” Shepherd said. “We feel there are a lot of senior city residents who are ready to move out of their single-family homes and want to stay in Englewood but can’t find appropriate housing. Hopefully, this project will help address that need.”
Tax-credit funding was a major source of the money to build the $9.7 million project.
The Low-Income Housing Tax Credit Program was created by Congress in 1986 as part of the Tax Reform Act passed that same year. The goal of the program was to create a public-private partnership to create affordable housing without using federal money to finance it.
Through the program, building housing that is affordable to low- and moderate-income people can provide federal low-income housing tax credits to the developer, who acts as a dollar-for-dollar offset against federal income taxes.
The request for tax credits for the authority was approved by the Colorado Housing Finance Division. It is the first tax-credit program in Englewood and one of the few in Arapahoe County.
“Everything has come together and, with a lot of help from the state and county, this project to provide low-cost, nonsubsidized senior housing is about to become a reality,” said Dawn Shepherd, authority director, as she toured the site and a model apartment.
“The construction company has been great and worked with us to carry out the architect’s vision of this project,” she said. “Everything looks great and it is even better than I envisioned from the drawing. The colors are vibrant and the views are great. Provided we get city occupancy approval, we expect the first tenant to move in about Dec. 12.”
So far, the authority has about 10 seniors who have indicated they want live at the new facility. Shepherd said interest will increase once the building is open and people can tour the model apartment. For information on the project and apartment availability, call 303-789-9578.
The five-story building is at the corner of South Pennsylvania Street and U.S. 285. It contains a ground floor parking garage and 62 apartments on the upper four floors, 22 two-bedroom units and 40 one-bedroom units. The second floor has an expansive community room, complete with a kitchen, office, exercise room and an east-facing outdoor terrace. There is a west-facing community outdoor terrace on the fifth floor.
The authority selected Burgwyn Co. as the project developer for the building, which was constructed on about a half-acre of land.
Rent for the units in the building will not be subsidized, but because the project will be built primarily with tax-credit funding, there will be income restrictions for the residents, requiring the renter to earn 40-60 percent of the average median income in the metro area to qualify to live in the building.
“This project will fill the need for housing between Simon Center, which is heavily subsidized, to the Meridian, that is market value,” Shepherd said. “We feel there are a lot of senior city residents who are ready to move out of their single-family homes and want to stay in Englewood but can’t find appropriate housing. Hopefully, this project will help address that need.”
Tax-credit funding was a major source of the money to build the $9.7 million project.
The Low-Income Housing Tax Credit Program was created by Congress in 1986 as part of the Tax Reform Act passed that same year. The goal of the program was to create a public-private partnership to create affordable housing without using federal money to finance it.
Through the program, building housing that is affordable to low- and moderate-income people can provide federal low-income housing tax credits to the developer, who acts as a dollar-for-dollar offset against federal income taxes.
The request for tax credits for the authority was approved by the Colorado Housing Finance Division. It is the first tax-credit program in Englewood and one of the few in Arapahoe County.
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