Golden is bringing in an expert to analyze the affordable housing landscape in the city.
The city’s planning manager, Rick Muriby, said the “community development analyst” position was created not to bring in new housing options, but to work with and improve those options already in place.
“It’s not a measure of how many units can be built, but more about, do we feel like we are making progress on this issue?” Muriby said.
The analyst will act in an advisory capacity; the city’s planning commission and City Council will make decisions on what action, if any, to take on projects or funding. The .
“Many communities have tried and failed,” Muriby said. “Can Golden come up with some solid initiatives that can get some traction?”
The new analyst, Cindy Pieropan, started near the beginning of April and was hired on a temporary two-year contract. She comes to the position with 18 years of experience .
She said she sees similarities between Boulder and Golden.
“I would say the similarities are that it is a desirable community, there’s not a lot of new development potential, and it is a location of a university,” Pieropan said.
Pieropan’s first order of business will be to gather data on Golden’s population and housing situation, she said, and determine what “affordable housing” means within the city’s demographic.
“The important things when you talk about affordable housing is, affordable to whom?” Pieropan said. “With the sale prices of housing right now, people who have owned homes in the area for 20 or 30 years would probably not be able to afford them at their sale price.”
, the average sale price of a detached home in Golden has risen from around $392,000 in 2012 to more than $559,00 so far in the first quarter of 2016.
Golden is a small city within a large county, Pieropan noted, with its geographical boundaries limiting some growth. But it is not just geography: Starting in 1996, the city placed a 1 percent annual cap on residential construction that went down to 0.9 percent in 2013.
However, builders are allowed to bank allotments against that growth into the future, as was the case with the Outlook Golden Ridge apartments at 544 Golden Ridge Road near the West Rail Line Station at the Jefferson County Administration and Courts Facility. According to a memo from the city, the 172-unit complex will not receive all of its allocations until 2018.
Apartment rent is also high, and demand is increasing for condos, said .
Smith said he has seen condos that used to sell in the low $100s being bid up to $120,000. One 773-square-foot condo he listed just outside Golden city limits recently sold for $150,000 cash, he said.
Affordable housing in Golden, Smith said, “has pretty much disappeared.” While this is good for home values, it creates a paradox for longtime residents and their families, who eventually could get priced out of their community.
“It’s about being able to preserve that for future generations,” Pieropan said.
Josie Klemaier: 303-954-2465, jklemaier@denverpost.com
