New rent-controlled apartments in Aspen ready for applicants
Kelsey Brunner/The Aspen Times
Park Circle apartment types:
2 - Category 2 one-bedroom units - $1,112 rent
5 - Category 3 one-bedroom units - $1,576 rent
2 - Category 3 two-bedroom units - $1,742 rent
2 - Category 4 two-bedroom units - $2,227 rent
The demand for 11 new deed-restricted units that will be made available to local workers this month is expected to be high as the pre-application process begins Wednesday.
The apartments, which are located at 517 Park Circle, cover a variety of income levels, from as low as $38,700 a year to more than $100,000 in salaries.
Applicants are asked to log onto Aspen Housing Partner’s website, aspenaffordablehousing.com, and then download, fill out and scan a PDF form before emailing it to apcha@cityofaspen.com. The deadline to submit is 4:30 p.m. Oct. 21, and a lottery drawing is scheduled for Oct. 23 at noon.
More than 100 people applied for one of 10 apartments made available on Main Street at the S-curves this past summer.
Those units, along with the ones at Park Circle and 24 more later this fall on Castle Creek Road, are being made available by Jason Bradshaw, who represents the developer Aspen Housing Partners, in partnership with the city of Aspen.
The city owns the land where the affordable-housing projects are being built, which was part of a multimillion dollar land banking effort 12 years ago for future development.
Bradshaw said Tuesday the Park Circle building cost $4.4 million to build and Main Street building was $4 million. The Castle Creek apartment building is expected to cost $9 million.
The public-private partnership consists of the city leasing the land to Aspen Housing Partners, as well as serving as the construction lender for the developments.
Combined, the construction loans amount to around $9 million.
The city’s financing gets paid back within three months of when the units are occupied.
Aspen Housing Partners owns the buildings on the land for 15 years and if the city wants to buy them at that time, it can exercise that right.
Otherwise, Aspen Housing Partners owns the buildings in perpetuity and the city can exercise its right to buy every 15 years, according to Bradshaw.
If an individual is selected and approved as a resident of 517 Park Circle, a security deposit equal to one month’s rent will be due before move-in. Interested parties can only sign up for one type of unit based on income categories and bedroom size. For example, a couple can sign up for a one-bedroom or a two-bedroom, but not both.
Bradshaw said he expects a certificate of occupancy to be issued for the new Park Circle building Friday.
He, along with future tenants at the Main Street property, ran into problems this past summer when the building did not receive a certificate of occupancy in a timely manner. The result was some individuals having to live in hotels or pay double rent because they could not move in on the date they were told.
The Park Circle apartments feature basement storage, one parking space, in-unit washing machines and dryers, private patios and decks, mudrooms and a community yard. Pets are allowed.
