In its 25 years of operation, Kentucky-based developer Völker has built over 60 affordable housing communities across 12 states. One of its most recent developments, Blossom Commons in Westminster, Colorado, broke ground this month, offering 50 affordable apartment units to seniors.
Now, Völker is eyeing Heber City for a similar project.
Managing Director of Development Lauren Schevets approached the Heber City Council on Tuesday with an initial pitch: a community of 25 one-bedroom and 25 two-bedroom apartments for individuals and couples 62 and older. The project would cost $22 million.
“Seniors are facing a gap. It’s too expensive to remain in or downsize within market-rate housing, and there’s limited dedicated senior independent living options locally,” Schevets said. “The combination of rapid growth, high housing costs and an aging population is creating a clear and increased need for attainable senior housing options in both Heber and Wasatch County.”
The apartments would be affordable to those earning between 20% and 80% of the Area Median Income (AMI), which is between $23,600 and $94,400 for an individual in Wasatch County. Schevets said rent would be approximately 30% of the individual or couple’s income and that residents would sign one-year leases.
The catch: Heber City’s support of the project. Negotiations about what a partnership could look like have not yet occurred, but it could entail the city assisting Völker in navigating zoning and land entitlements or pitching in financially.
Most immediately, Völker is requesting that Heber City send a non-binding letter of support of the project to the Utah Housing Corporation by the end of May. The following month, Völker will apply for the Utah Housing Corporation’s competitive 9% tax credit, a subsidy awarded annually to select low-income housing developments.
All five members of the City Council were supportive of Völker’s plans to develop an affordable housing community for seniors but agreed that the proposed location was “questionable,” as Councilor Sid Ostergaard put it.
Völker’s plan was to purchase a plot of land at the corner of Heber Parkway and U.S. 40. Schevets pointed out that the site is within walking distance of Heber Valley Hospital and within a mile of several grocery stores and the Wasatch County Senior Center.
But Councilor Mike Johnston pointed out that the hospital would be on the opposite side of U.S. 40 as the housing development, and that U.S. 40 is “impossible” to cross on foot at that intersection because there are no crosswalks or traffic lights.
Councilor Yvonne Barney also criticized the site’s proximity to a busy intersection.
“There’s a lot of safety issues. I’m elderly, so I think I can definitely speak to some of those concerns,” she said.
The City Council declined to write a letter of support for the development but agreed to meet with Schevets next week to discuss alternate sites for the project. Johnston said that he had already found five vacant plots in the surrounding area that may be more suitable.
Schevets acknowledged that identifying a new site and working through conceptual planning before June would be “a challenge,” but she said she was open to work with the City Council.
All members of the City Council hope to come to a consensus with Völker.
“We really need this kind of thing. You’re talking 20% of AMI for an older person. I know those people, and they’re desperate to have a place,” Johnston said. “We absolutely don’t have that, unless someone is kind and lets them stay in their basement apartment for a significantly reduced amount.”