Week of January 19, 2023
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JEFFERSON COUNTY, COLORADO
A publication of
GoldenTranscript.net
VOLUME 157 | ISSUE 5
Our in-depth look at the housing crisis
Golden applies for $3 million grant for affordable housing project Habitat for Humanity looks to acquire 5-acre Xcel Energy property BY CORINNE WESTEMAN CWESTEMAN@COLORADOCOMMUNITYMEDIA.COM
Trickling up: How housing is becoming less affordable for more Coloradans BY TAYLER SHAW AND LUKE ZARZECKI COLORADO COMMUNITY MEDIA
A home means everything to Shelley Gilson, a 50-year-old single mother of three girls who works as a guest service agent at an airline. “It’s one word: priceless,” she
said. The rising cost of housing in the Denver area has made it difficult for her to afford a home. She spent years bounding around working for low pay, including to several affordable housing communities across the state.
INSIDE: VOICES: PAGE 14 | CALENDAR: PAGE 13 | SPORTS: PAGE 24
Eventually, more than a decade ago, she found a home at Orchard Crossing Apartments in Westminster. It is an affordable housing community that includes Section 8 housing, the federal government program that provides vouchers to low-income families, the disabled and elderly. SEE TRICKLING UP, P10
Officials hope that one day there will be 125 Habitat for Humanity townhomes and condos on the Xcel Energy property along South Golden Road, so locals can buy permanently affordable homes. While the idea is a long time coming, it also has a long way to go before it becomes reality. On Jan. 10, the City of Golden and Habitat for Humanity of Metro Denver took some of the first steps by applying for a $3 million affordable housing grant from the Colorado Department of Local Affairs. Only municipalities can apply for the grant, so if successful, the city will serve as a pass-through agency and reimburse Habitat for its work on the 5-acre Xcel property. The money must be spent by May 2024. Xcel listed its property at 17805 South Golden Road for sale in June, and Habitat is currently under contract and scheduled to close in February. If all goes well, Habitat plans to start design work this spring, site demolition over the summer, and SEE PROJECT, P3
GHS ALUM IMPRESSES ON THE MINES COURT P24