Westminster Makes Affordable Housing Priority In Downtown Area
WESTMINSTER, Colo. (CBS4)- A project years in the making, finally has its first residents. Downtown Westminster has one apartment complex open with several more planned to bring residents to the area in the next few months.
"It faces the mountains and that's also why I chose it," said April Garcia about her apartment in the Eaton Street Apartments. "I think somebody mentioned there was going to be affordable housing in downtown Westminster. Then I was like, I need to be all over this. I had probably only been looking for about a month or two."
Eaton Street is made up of 118 units and has about 10 one-bedroom units still available. Residents must make less than $39,000 a year for the one-bedrooms. The complex has one, two, and three-bedroom units. They rent for $1,044 to 1,448 depending on the size.
"Utilities are included in the rent; I just have to worry about one flat fee. It's nice to not have to plan for those types of bills," Garcia said.
The city, which is behind the Downtown Westminster development, says it's important that the first residents have affordable units. The overall plan is to have about 20 percent of the entire project have workforce, affordable housing.
Garcia works about 10 minutes away from her new apartment.
"I hate commuting, I used to commute for one of my jobs and I absolutely quit the job because the commute was so bad. For this to not even be on a major highway or major street for me to get to work was huge," she said.
The only current downside to being the first residents in a booming development, is the constant construction around.
"Seeing the progression is really cool," Garcia said.
The Alamo Drafthouse opened in the summer. The Ascent apartment complex, with 255 units, should open by the end of the year. The Origin Hotel is being built and more housing is planned for 2020 as the area that used to house the Westminster Mall is revamped.
"This is a really nice place with affordable units. I'm grateful," Garcia said.