Eagle County officials finalize financing deal for Eagle Villas apartments to keep them affordable
Rents would have doubled if units had gone to the free market
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Eagle County officials on Tuesday completed a complex deal to keep the Eagle Villas apartments in Eagle in the county’s affordable housing inventory.
The 120-unit complex, built between 1994 and 1996, was originally financed with a low-income housing tax credit. That credit, applied to 108 of the units, was set to expire at the end of 2024. The units at Eagle Villas are truly affordable, rented to people earning between 45 and 80% of the area median income.
The original owner listed the property for sale in 2023 as a potential free market sale.
At a Tuesday meeting of the Eagle County Board of Commissioners meeting as the county Housing and Development Authority, Eagle County Resiliency Director Tori Franks said a deal to keep the complex started coming together when Denver-based Ulysses Development Group approached the Housing Authority about partnering.
The deal, which closed in the autumn of 2024, makes the county housing authority a “Special Limited Partner,” which means Ulysses has a property tax exemption on the apartments. The authority under a “resyndication” arrangement remains a limited partner, assuming a $5 million loan from the Colorado Department of Local Affairs and a $4 million Eagle County Housing and Development Authority loan.
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The financing agreement also keeps the units affordable for the next 60 years.
Franks told the commissioners that if rent had to pay for the entire $68.8 million financing package, rents would have had to more than double to roughly $1,900 per month. Instead, rents won’t change.
The agreement also frees up enough cash to pay for a $9.5 million rehabilitation and renovation project — about $80,000 per unit. The roughly 13-month program’s renovations will focus on energy efficiency and sustainability. Upgrades will include full bathroom renovations, replacing kitchen appliances with Energy Star units, and replacing flooring in the units.
The work will also make the complex compliant with the Americans with Disabilities Act.
External upgrades will include new siding, windows, gutters and roofing.
Franks noted that Eagle Villas and its rent structure would be “irreplaceable” if it were to transition to a free-market project, which is why county housing officials worked with Ulysses to make the deal work.
Noting the fast timeline of putting the deal together, Commissioner Matt Scherr noted that the Eagle Villas deal wasn’t on the housing team’s calendar. But, he added, “This is what it takes to get housing done.”
Noting the prospect of the apartments transitioning to free-market units, Commissioner Jeanne McQueeney added, “I doubt there are very many people that could withstand a doubling of their (rent or mortgage). … It’s tough when they raise it by $100.”
