If you go What: Housing Needs Assessment Discussion, item No. 4 on agenda When: 6 p.m. Tuesday Where: Broomfield City Council Chambers, 1 Descombes Drive Cost: Free More info: Public comment typically is not taken during study sessions.

Broomfield officials agreed to waive up to $384,235 in fees so that a 49-unit affordable housing project can move forward with plans to build near 120th Avenue and Main Street.

Academy Place, a project proposed by Montana-based Summit Housing Group, would be 100 percent affordable for people and families at or below 60 percent of the Broomfield area median income.

The development, which will be near Broomfield Academy, will remain affordable for a minimum of 45 years.

To make it financially feasible, developers will need cooperation from the city, from a local nonprofit, and to be granted Low-Income Housing Tax Credits through the Colorado Housing and Finance Authority, or CHFA.

In 2016, when affordable project Littleton Crossing Apartments was developed, there were 48 applications, Senior Project Manager Sam Long said, and CHFA awarded 12.

“That is how competitive the process is,” Long said. “So, city support non profit support . . . all these elements play into what CHFA deems a successful development.”

Summit Housing officials are planning on building eight one-bedroom units, 24 two-bedroom units and 15 three-bedroom.

Broomfield’s average median income was adjusted upward by $5,000 last week, and is now $89,900 for a family of four.

Fifty percent of the units will be targeted at people making 60 percent of that AMI, which means a rent rage of $945 to $1,309 — rent which Long said “doesn’t really exist in Broomfield.” An example of that tenant would be a police officer with a child, or work-force housing.

Twenty-two percent of units will be rented to families at 50 percent AMI or below, which he equated to a teacher with a child.

Twenty-two percent will be for those who make 40 percent AMI, with a rent range of $630 to $873, which could mean a senior on a fixed income.

Ten percent of the units will be targeted towards individuals and families at 30 percent AMI, which could be wait staff, cooks and others in the service industry.

“Right now, if you are working in Broomfield, you’re not living in Broomfield,” Long said.

Broomfield FISH has agreed to provide services for the 30 percent units, he said, Summit Housing will give FISH clients priority to live in 40 percent AMI units. When Summit Housing has a vacancy, they will coordinate with FISH to fill it, which Long said is a great way for the community to place residents who are in need.

Broomfield hasn’t had a CHFA deal in 15 years and the agency wants to geographically distribute credits across the state.

“We believe this deal has a good chance of getting awarded,” Long said.

The company has more than a $250 million in development, which includes a property at Centennial Park Apartments, 1205 Pace Street in Longmont.

“It is probably the best, most beautiful affordable housing project we’ve ever done,” Long said.

“We’re very proud of what we build,” Long said.

Summit Housing is a multi-family developer operating in six states. It’s a family-owned business that was started in 2002 by Long’s father.

“When I was born, we lived in affordable housing,” he said. “(My dad) was not very well off, and because he was able to live in affordable housing he was able to — over the course of his life — buy a home. Now, he’s a very successful entrepreneur.”

The company has built about 1,600 units in Colorado, Utah, Montana, Wyoming, South Dakota and Oklahoma, and is looking into expanding into Nebraska and Arizona.

One thing that separates them from other developers is that they own and manage the properties, Long said, for a minimum of 15 years.

Academy Place is expected to have a community room, community garden and possibly a dog park or splash park for children.

This parcel was the only R5 zoning Long said the company could find in Broomfield, and when cities want more affordable housing, zoning is key.

This project would capture 4 percent of the 1,084 people who would be eligible to rent in Broomfield, he said, which is a city where everything currently being constructed is market rate. Comparatively, when Littleton’s project was approved it had a 17 percent rate, and Longmont had 19 percent.

“Basically you have a housing crisis on your hands,” Long said. “You have a vacancy rate of 5.7 percent in your market-rate units. Our market-rate study shows zero percent vacancy in affordable units in Broomfield.”

Since that market-rate studywas completed in October, rents have continued to go up, he said. Residents will who live in units at 60 percent AMI will pay 40 to 50 percent below market rate.

Broomfield’s Housing Program Manager Cheryl St. Claire said the city has approved similar fee waivers when Broomfield Greens Senior Apartments, a 50-unit affordable housing community at 12451 Sheridan Blvd., was built. Fifteen years later, the project still is operating and has been very successful, she said.

Broomfield Housing Authority agreed to be a limited partner with Broomfield Greens — something Summit Housing also received in this deal.

The city and county still will collect fees such as water license, water meter, sewer license and partial school.

Mayor Pro Tem Bette Erickson said she was pleased to see this project come forward, especially as someone who grew up in affordable housing.

She believes residents who will live here “would be thrilled” and feel some sense of normalcy.

“The under-served or poor are sometimes invisible to us,” she said.

Ward 2 Councilwoman Sharon Tessier, a member of Housing Advisory Committee who has seen this presentation several times, said it gets more exciting each time she hears it.

“This is housing for everyone,” Tessier said, “We want to provide that spectrum of housing for everybody.”

It will take a small step to addressing Broomfield’s housing woes, she said, and build momentum for future projects.

In response to several council members request that Broomfield residents be given priority for this project, Deputy City and County Manager Kevin Standbridge said Broomfield is prepared to help as far as creating a waiting list.

Ward 5 Councilwoman Guyleen Castriotta said she gets weekly emails requesting for affordable housing opportunities and is excited about this partnership with Summit.

The company plans to submit its full application to CHFA on June 1. The state will spend the summer doing site visits and calling cities to make sure they are on board with projects. By early September, the awards will be made public.

If Summit is awarded, developers most likely will break ground, weather permitting, in March 2019. The approved resolution includes participation by the Broomfield Housing Authority as a special limited partner, which also will result in a reduction of about $13,000 to $15,000 a year in potential property taxes.

Ward 4 Councilwoman Kimberly Groom asked how Summit came up with the ratio of types of units, and said it didn’t reflect Broomfield needs.

“I don’t think there’s a huge demand for three bedrooms,” she said. “I want to see more one-bedroom.”

Long agreed, but said Summit also needs to look at the financial viability of the project and needs those three-bedroom units to support the overall development.

The company has been looking at Broomfield for two years and worked on this project for eight months. He estimates it could be another four years before Broomfield gets another credit of this kind.

“It is unbelievably exciting to see a true affordable housing project come before us,” Ward 4 Councilwoman Kevin Kreeger said. “A lot of people think of it as being the poorest of the poor, and while those people are in desperate need of housing, this is largely for people like police, fire fighters, city staff and teachers.”

Jennifer Rios: 303-473-1361, riosj@broomfieldenterprise.com or Twitter.com/Jennifer_Rios