The state’s apartment-vacancy rate has reached a 6 1/2-year low, prompting at least one company to consider buying a building to house workers.
“There’s a premium we have to pay to get Denver employees up to the mountains,” said Jon Kinning, vice president of RK Mechanical Inc.
The company, which is working on projects such as the Ritz Residence in Vail and the Viceroy in Snowmass, wants to buy an apartment building in the Roaring Fork Valley. The company tries to hire local workers first, Kinning said.
The statewide apartment-vacancy rate plunged to 5.7 percent during the third quarter, compared with 7.2 percent a year ago, according to a report released Tuesday by the Colorado Division of Housing.
Mountain communities showed the lowest vacancy rates, with Aspen at 1.4 percent and Glenwood Springs at 2.4 percent. Sterling reported the highest vacancy rate at 10.3 percent, followed by Fort Morgan at 8.9 percent.
Despite the low vacancy, developers are not building more units. With construction costs increasing, average rents aren’t rising enough to support building new units.
The average rent during the third quarter dropped to $821 a month, compared with $825 during the third quarter last year.
