Boulder’s Planning Board last week reviewed a proposed 60-unit permanently affordable housing development for older adults on Arapahoe Ave., with no members supporting a historic landmarking that could threaten the project’s feasibility.
The concept plan, submitted by Presbyterian Manor and developer Element Properties, calls for demolishing four nearly 100-year-old Craftsman bungalows to make way for a new three-story building adjacent to the nonprofit’s existing 11-story tower at 1050 Arapahoe Ave. All rental units would be restricted to residents 62 and older earning at or below 60% of the area median income. Construction is unlikely to begin before 2028.
The project is navigating an unresolved historic preservation dispute that could threaten its financing. One of the four homes on the site, a bungalow at 990 Arapahoe Ave., remains under consideration for landmark designation after the Landmarks Board voted in February to initiate the process.
Mark Liebetrau, who chairs Presbyterian Manor’s board of directors, said the project requires demolition approval for all four houses. He said the team is working with Historic Boulder on a plan to relocate them.
According to the project team, preserving 990 Arapahoe would eliminate nearly all off-street parking for residents, reduce the number of housing units, and could jeopardize the project’s Low-Income Housing Tax Credit (LIHTC) award.
“We’d be trading one market-rate rental for 38, or even 60, units of affordable housing,” Catherine Bean, a principal at Element Properties, told the Planning Board last week.
Most Planning Board members supported relocating the bungalows. None supported landmarking the building as part of the site review process.
“We have an acute and documented need for precisely this type of housing in Boulder,” Board member Claudia Hanson Thiem said. “I’m actually pretty frustrated that this is a serious conversation, talking about the tradeoffs between these bungalows and this proposed housing project.”
A full designation hearing before the Landmarks Board is expected between April and June, according to city officials. The Boulder City Council will have the final say on whether to designate the bungalow as a landmark.
The project comes as the city considers a possible plan to relocate the West Age Well Center, where it provides services to older adults, to the North Boulder Recreation Center. The center is located across the street from the proposed development.
Planning Board member ml Robles recently urged the Boulder City Council to preserve the center.
“This property has irreplaceable value because of its location and especially for the affordability it provides in modest cost meals and programs,” Robles wrote to city council. “Boulder needs to put its values on the table and remove this property from consideration for sale to private development for market housing.”
