The future of an affordability measure for a workforce housing complex that officials say has some of the lowest rents in Silverthorne is in question as officials showed opposition to a proposed extension agreement. 

Silverthorne Town Council supported town staff’s recommendation to put the funds toward an emergency assistance program in lieu of giving them directly to the owner of the Blue River Apartments, Tralee Capital Partners, at a Wednesday, Oct. 23 meeting. 

The Blue River Apartments on Adams Avenue in Silverthorne were built in 1994 and were financed through the federal Low Income Housing Tax Credit program, which mandates rents be set to accommodate those earning 60% of the area median income or less. The credits through this program last 30 years. They lapsed Dec. 31, 2024, and the town and the county paid Tralee Capital a subsidy to extend the affordability for a year. Town staff members said the town did so to bridge the gap in affordable housing inventory because the Smith Ranch Apartments were under construction at the time. 

Now, there’s only a few months left until the subsidy expires. Tralee Capital asked the town and county for a five-year extension involving $200,000 in the first year with a 2.5% escalator each year thereafter for a total of $1,051,265. Silverthorne housing manager Vicente Kemp Lobo said this would include a full property tax rebate from the county. He said the agreement would allow Tralee Capital to increase rent for existing tenants by up to 6.5%. Two-bedroom units would be restricted to local employees earning up to 80% of the area median income. Tralee Capital agreed to provide a $300 monthly credit for any vacant unit to the town and county. 

Lobo noted town staff members’ “significant” concerns while presenting the recommendation to create an emergency fund instead of fund the Blue River Apartments. He said staff worried about the annual rent increase having no tie to area media income. 

“Their rents could rise faster than residents’ incomes, eroding the affordability over time and failing to ensure affordability relative to the fluctuating income levels, which really defeats the core purpose of the agreement,” he said. 

He added area median income data demonstrates there has not been a rent increase as high as 6.5% in the past eight years and that staff had concerns about the existing tenants making 60% of the area median income not being able to afford new rents heard toward those making 80% of the area median income. He said the proposal lacks any guarantee of long-term affordability and there’s no plan for past 2030. 

An overview of the proposal sent to the Summit Daily News by Tralee Capital does not specify what the plan after 2030 is. Chief operating officer Karsang Sherpa said the subsidy his group seeks would translate to $272 per unit per month, and this would sustain the affordability. 

Lobo said the owners of Blue River Apartments did not provide much information on how income eligibility enforcement currently worked or how it would work in the future under the proposal. 

He said town staff members have questions and concerns about the current tenant population and property conditions and the unit’s livability. He said there’s no available statistics on how many residents left or chose to stay at the apartments. Mayor Ann-Marie Sandquist said it appeared the apartments served a more transient purpose and that people weren’t living there over a long period of time. 

Sherpa said his group admittedly didn’t do a sufficient job of explaining how the property is managed. He said he has invited Silverthorne and Summit County officials to tour the apartments and plans to provide more clarity around property management. He confirmed new residents’ incomes are verified by a third-party compliance agency in addition to having a separate property management company. He provided the Summit Daily stats demonstrating the Blue River Apartments have had nine move-outs in the past 22 months.

Sherpa said his group poured more than $1.2 million into upgrades and improvements for the property since 2015.

Council member Jonnah Glassman raised concerns about the Blue River Apartments losing affordability if the town does not subsidize them further. She worried about a loss of affordable housing inventory because she said an affordability measure for workforce apartments in the Days Inn in Silverthorne was set to expire at a similar time. 

“Where are those people going to go, and what inventory do we have to put them in?” she said. 

Town manager Mark Leidal said that was a valid question and concern. He said the best solution they have readily available is the rental assistance fund. 

He and other town staff members said they felt an emergency rent fund broadened the amount of people who could be served as opposed to narrowing it to one complex. Officials agreed it made more sense to create a fund that could help people that funding the apartments would. 

Staff was directed to explore options for an emergency rental assistance fund including contributing to existing funds with the same purpose, creating an in-house program with potential collaboration with the Summit County Housing Authority or a third-party organization.  

“I think the Emergency Assistance Fund also rolls off the tongue really easily, but there’s a lot of devil in the details about how to really set that up and who should be administering it,” council member Bruce Butler said, encouraging more thought into the logistics behind it. 

Summit County Government has not yet discussed whether they plan to put any funding toward the Blue River Apartments.