Units at a Summit County affordable housing complex that were previously being reserved for nonprofits will now be available to the general public amid overwhelming demand. 

The Larkspur, a joint development between the Summit County government and the town of Breckenridge, opened a lottery application for residents last month that received over 1,000 applications. 

Originally, 36 of the complex’s 52 units were available to the public, with the remainder being reserved primarily for county and town staff. Four were reserved for a pilot program wherein nonprofit organizations would be able to master lease a unit and then rent it to an employee. 

But after receiving hundreds of applications, officials decided to forgo the master leasing plan and make the four units available to the public, said ​​Breckenridge Housing and Childcare Manager Laurie Best. 

The four units are one-bedroom apartments that will be rented for $2,078 per month. While the Larkspur’s 12 other one-bedroom apartments, along with its 14 studios, are reserved for residents making no more than 80% of the area median income, these won’t have any income requirement. The Larkspur also has 10 two-bedroom units that are not income-based units and come with a rent of $2,495. 

The reason, according to Best, is to allow flexibility for residents who may make slightly too much to qualify for other units but not enough to afford an apartment that is market rate. 

The complex still requires any potential tenant to work a minimum of 30 hours per week in Summit County, a move aimed at ensuring units are going to local workers. 

Officials have opened a new application for the four, non-income-based units that will close on Monday, Feb. 19. They have also pushed back a lottery drawing event to Feb. 27 that will determine the order for who gets to apply for which unit. 

Best said that even if someone has applied for a different unit, such as a studio or two-bedroom, they can still apply for the new one-bedroom apartments. Applicants will receive a lottery number for each unit they apply for. The property management company will then begin contacting applicants in descending order.

Applications can be found online at TownofBreckHousing.com/justice-center. Area median income figures can be found at SummitHousing.us/resources/area-median-income.