Developers land $2.7M state grant to support Craig workforce apartments

July 29, 2024

Craig Press

Carpenter Leasing Property

Craig Economic Development Manager Shannon Scott is excited that $2.7 million in state funding will assist a 96-unit rental apartment project for attainable workforce housing.

Formerly known as the Woodbury Park Apartments, the overall estimated $25 million project is in the final stages of land procurement for five acres of private, industrially zoned land located south of downtown Craig, Scott said Thursday. In addition to a new location, the project has a new name, the Meadows Apartments.

The overall cost of the housing project is estimated between $25 million and $29 million, said Heidi Dragoo, director of community relations for the Montrose-based, family-owned development company Colorado Outdoors, which is leading the project.

“We are excited that the state is supporting workforce housing in this way, and rural Colorado needs it,” Dragoo said Thursday. “We are in the beginning phases of design for this project. We will go through a public process, and we look forward to community input and engagement.”

On July 30 or 31, Craig City Council and nonprofit Craig Housing Authority will meet to review a final letter of intent for the developer’s purchase of the five-acre private lot located to the east of Woodbury Park at the corner of Third Street and Mack Lane, Scott said. The land is currently zoned industrial, so it can also be used for high-density housing.

“This will be at the new Carpenter Leasing property, which is a privately owned piece of land, and not at either of the previously considered Woodbury Park sites, which are owned by the city,” Scott emphasized.

The economic development manager said the Meadows Apartments in the new location represent only the second attainable workforce housing planned in Craig in some 40 years. The other housing project is the 20-unit Eighth Street for-sale townhomes that broke ground in October and should be completed in August. Memorial Regional Health acquired the right of first refusal for five of the units for hospital staff, Scott said.

The recently announced $2.7 million for the Meadows Apartments is part of more than $39 million in grants funded by the voter-approved Proposition 123 Equity program. That state program provides investment capital for low- and middle-income multifamily affordable rental housing projects. The $39.3 million will support the creation of an estimated 628 affordable housing units for six projects in Denver, Fort Collins, Montrose, Lone Tree and Craig, according to the governor’s office.

The awarded projects prioritize high-density, mixed-income properties and environmental sustainability, including walkability to public transportation or community centers, electrification and water-wise landscaping, according to the governor’s office. Geographic diversity and readiness to proceed were also considered.

The project in Craig will include a mix of studio and one- to three-bedroom apartments for tenants earning 80-140% of the area median income, Scott said. The goal is for a ground-breaking in early summer 2025 with an estimated completion in late 2026, she said.

The five-acre site received the green light several weeks ago when it passed a phase one environmental assessment with no concerns, Scott said. The city paid for that assessment through formerly acquired grant funds from the Environmental Protection Agency’s Brownfields program.

The $2.7 million state grant is awarded to the developer Colorado Outdoors, which is run by the Dragoo family and is operating in Craig under the name Woodbury Housing Authority LLC. The company has developed a variety of projects ranging from a distillery to an all-accessible park to the 96-unit Basecamp market-rate apartments in Montrose, Dragoo said. The company also previously bought and sold the former Bank of the West building in downtown Craig.

Scott said other funding has assisted the workforce rental housing project including $1.9 million from the Energy and Mineral Impact Assistance Fund from the Colorado Department of Local Affairs that was received in the spring. That funding will help with installation for publicly owned infrastructure such as water, sewer, electricity, transit center and possibly broadband, Scott said.

In addition, in 2022 the city received $500,000 in funding from a federal congressional directed spending grant through the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.

Questions on the Meadows Apartments can be directed to Dragoo at heidi@coloradooutdoors.com