What is the YVHA?

• Since 2003, The Yampa Valley Housing Authority has provided affordable housing in Steamboat Springs.
• YVHA is a multi-jurisdictional public housing authority created by an intergovernmental agreement between the City of Steamboat Springs and Routt County and governed by a volunteer Board of Directors, appointed by the City and the County.

What is the vision for YVHA’s future?

The Yampa Valley Housing Authority is an organization that maintains strong communities, has healthy financials, provides housing education, and is the affordable housing leader in the Steamboat Springs area.

We advocate for affordable housing to be a top priority for the community and we partner with the City, County, developers, and other organizations to provide the resources necessary to bring new affordable housing to the market.

What is the housing mill levy?

In 2017, local voters approved a 1 mill property tax that would sunset in 10 years, to be used to build 600 new affordable housing units.

By using numerous public-private partnerships, YVHA has leveraged this small mill levy to provide more than 400 Routt County families safe, stable, affordable homes in six years, with more in the pipeline.

How many housing developments has YVHA created?

After the mill levy passed, YVHA moved to build infill homes quickly. These are the developments completed or underway:

• The Reserves
  • 48-unit property for low-income residents, managed by a 3rd party property management company. Available since 2017. Residents living here include restaurant support workers, cooks, entry-level grocery workers, patient care providers, and preschool teachers.
• Alpenglow
  • Alpenglow Village includes 72 one-, two-, and three-bedroom mixed-income apartment units. Residents here might include cooks, landscape workers, medical assistants, bus drivers, teachers, police officers, and nurses. managed by a 3rd party property management company. Available since 2019.
• Sunlight Crossing
  • The project was designed to create upward mobility from YVHA low-income properties for those who qualify and provide much needed affordable housing for middle income earners of Routt County. The 90 units include studio, 1-, 2-, and 3-bedroom configurations targeted for families earning between 80% and 120% of AMI. There are also 22 market-rate units. Residents at Sunlight Crossing might include teachers, nurses, firefighters, physical therapists, and sworn police officers. The project is fully leased and managed by YVHA.
• Anglers Four Hundred
  • YVHA partnered with Overland Property Group to leverage its local investment of $2million to bring roughly $14 million in state and federal tax credit equity to fund the development of this new community. When completed in late 2023 or early 2024, this project will deliver 75 rental apartments. Residents might be cooks, bartenders, servers, bus drivers, landscape workers, and teachers, among others. Planned lease up fall 2023. Will be managed by a 3rd party property management company.
• Mid-Valley
  • 150 rental and 84 for-sale moderate-income units. YVHA acquired the Mid Valley property thanks to a generous anonymous donation. YVHA was also awarded a $4 million grant from the Colorado Department of Local Affairs, with Lone Tree Trust, LLC as a development partner, YVHA plans to develop 234 units of moderate-income housing, including 150 rental apartments and 84 for-sale condominiums. All for sale units will be deed-restricted and will target members of the local Routt County workforce or those retired from the local workforce. YVHA is planning for a 2025 release and will manage the property.

What other properties does YVHA own and manage?

Since its creation, YVHA has worked to purchase,manage and upgrade existing affordable housing.

• Hillside Village Apartments
  • Formerly owned by the Regional Affordable Living Foundation (RALF), YVHA acquired the Hillside Village Apartments in 2007. The complex consists of one- and two-bedroom units geared toward low-income households making up to 80% of the Area Median Income (AMI). Residents might include cooks and restaurant support folks, entry-level grocery workers, and medical assistants. YVHA manages this property and it always has a waitlist.
• Fish Creek Mobile Home Park
  • In 2007, YVHA acquired the Park with the help of a low-interest loan from the City of Steamboat Springs. Since the acquisition, YVHA has invested in upgrading the underground infrastructure within the Park and continues to invest in upgrading the above-ground utilities. The Park contains 68 lots. Each resident owns their own home and pays an affordable lot rent to YVHA. Ownership of homes is restricted to households who work in Routt County and use the property as their sole residence.
• Whitehaven Mobile Home Park
  • YVHA purchased this 27-unit Park in 2022 with the generous contribution of two anonymous donors and favorable loans. Like the Fish Creek Mobile Home Park, each resident owns their own home and pays an affordable lot rent to us. We have set up a process to upgrade the infrastructure and eventually plan to transition ownership of the property to the residents in the form of a resident-owned co-op.

How does YVHA create housing mobility?

When individuals spend less than 30% of their income on housing, they can save for their future, which creates an environment of housing mobility and the possibility of eventual home ownership.

YVHA has a variety of housing types to help with upward mobility.

How does YVHA pay for its housing developments?

YVHA uses a number of tools to build its housing developments including the Federal Low Income Housing Tax Credit, working with development partners, the housing mill levy, low interest loans and grants from federal, state and philanthropic partners.

How else does YVHA help those in need of housing?

The YVHA Housing Navigation Program is the umbrella YVHA uses to help individuals and families locate secure and affordable long-term housing options.

It includes the Down Payment Assistance Program and deed restrictions.

YVHA also provides resources to promote financial education to achieve upward mobility, starting with budgeting.

How does YVHA work with private developers?

On all our new housing developments, YVHA establishes a public-private partnership with a qualified developer. This is done to leverage the financial and other resources YVHA brings to the development. It also serves to limit the risk exposure by YVHA, including construction, lease-up, and operating risks.

Resources YVHA brings to each partnership differ slightly, but can include the following:

• Local financial resources (used as a part of all capital sources);
• Property, sales and use tax exemptions;
• Local entitlement expertise, including planning and zoning applications, process coordination and representation at public hearings; and,
• Local consultants who aid in determining development feasibility and market characteristics.

How is the YVHA governed?

YVHA is overseen by a Board of Directors who are selected by the City Council of Steamboat Springs and the Routt County Commissioners. Board terms are three years. The Board is dedicated to the strategic and fiduciary oversight of YVHA to deliver and maintain safe, affordable, and sustainable housing for the Yampa Valley. The focus of the Board has been to utilize the 5A mill levy revenue to build and maintain a diverse inventory of housing stock.

Current Board members are:

Do you provide rental assistance?

Section 8 Rental Assistance

The Section 8 Housing Choice Voucher Program is federally funded by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). It provides a subsidy for qualified families to obtain existing rental housing at a rent they can afford. For more information, go to the HUD Website about the Section 8 Housing Choice Voucher Program.

The Grand County Housing Authority administers this program for Routt County. They can be contacted at (970) 725-3347.