DENVER — Colorado Gov. Jared Polis is urging lawmakers to help laws to make it simpler for church buildings to construct housing on land they personal.
It’s among the many housing targets the governor is pursuing throughout this 12 months’s legislative session to broaden reasonably priced housing choices in Colorado.
“Governor Polis applauds the sponsors’ management on tackling this problem to assist create extra housing that Coloradans can afford,” mentioned Shelby Wieman, the governor’s press secretary. “He appears ahead to seeing a invoice launched that may empower organizations like faculties and faith-based organizations who wish to make the most of land they personal to construct housing to help their employees and the broader neighborhood.”
Throughout his 2025 State of the State deal with on Thursday, Polis highlighted a 77-unit reasonably priced housing undertaking that was constructed on church property in Colorado Springs. The governor toured the undertaking in December 2024 and invited the church’s pastor, Pastor Ben Anderson, to his State of the State.
- Hear extra from the governor’s 2025 State of the State within the video participant under
Polis discusses methods to fight reasonably priced housing disaster in 2025 State of the State
Church buildings within the Denver space are additionally constructing reasonably priced housing tasks on their property. Augustana Lutheran Church in Denver teamed up with Habitat for Humanity of Metro Denver to construct eight duplexes for working-class households.
The duplexes are being constructed on church-owned land that was a parking zone.
“It was onerous to patrol and preserve protected, and other people knew that it was vacant,” mentioned Senior Pastor Caitlin Trussell of Augustana Lutheran Church.
Trussell mentioned the church is leasing the land for $1 for 100 years. She described the undertaking as a leap of religion for her congregation.
“The leap of religion, I believe, is taking a bit of property and committing it, placing our religion the place our land is, and actually ensuring that we’re doing one thing significant for the neighborhood,” mentioned Trussell.
Trussell mentioned the concept began when a gaggle of church members attended a brunch and discovered that Denver metro church buildings collectively owned about 5,000 acres of land. Quite a lot of that land is nothing however empty fields and parking heaps.
“They simply thought possibly this can be a area that we might use for reasonably priced housing,” Trussell mentioned.
KMGH-TV
Laura Willetto with Habitat for Humanity of Metro Denver mentioned the underutilized land supplies church buildings with an amazing alternative.
“That’s the place church buildings have a chance to both donate or promote that land affordably and houses might be constructed there,” mentioned Willetto.
Willetto mentioned Habitat for Humanity of Metro Denver can also be partnering with Mountain View United Church in Aurora on one other reasonably priced housing undertaking.
“We’re constructing 20 reasonably priced for-sale houses on that land that is owned by the church. In each of these circumstances, the church buildings are leasing the land to Habitat,” mentioned Willetto.
The reasonably priced housing undertaking behind Augustana Lutheran Church might be accomplished later this 12 months.
“It is a chance to work along with our neighbors on one thing that really makes a actually concrete distinction,” mentioned Trussell.
It’s a leap of religion she’s glad her church is taking.
You may be taught extra about tasks and Habitat for Humanity of Metro Denver’s partnerships with faith-based organizations right here.
Politics
Polis units housing and transit priorities in 2025 State of the State deal with
Gov. Jared Polis detailed a three-part strategy to creating entry to extra reasonably priced housing in Colorado throughout his 2025 State of the State deal with:
- “Streamline” the constructing of modular houses — homes in-built elements off-site and assembled on the constructing location — to be quicker and cheaper
- Permitting builders to construct “good stair,” or single-staircase, residences and houses which can be lauded for extra environment friendly flooring plans however elevate issues about fireplace security
- Partnering with instructional and faith-based facilities to make use of their land for extra housing, like Stable Rock Christian Heart in Colorado Springs, which is now house to greater than 70 reasonably priced housing items
He additionally urged lawmakers to resolve Colorado’s condominium scarcity and deal with house owner’s insurance coverage prices, which have been pushed up by local weather occasions like wildfires and hailstorms.
“I’m calling for wanted reforms to sort out the excessive price of householders insurance coverage and broaden entry so that each house owner can get the insurance coverage they want and be taught extra about methods to cut back their charges,” Polis mentioned.
2025 housing payments launched this session:
- Home Invoice 25-1004 (No Pricing Coordination Between Landlords): Regarding pricing coordination by landlords, and, in connection therewith, prohibiting landlords from utilizing coordinators, prohibiting coordinators from facilitating agreements that cut back competitors between landlords, and prohibiting two or extra landlords from partaking in consciously parallel pricing coordination.
- Home Invoice 25-1019 (Third-Get together Administration of Division of Housing Packages): Regarding third-party administration of applications for individuals experiencing homelessness which can be overseen by the Division of Housing within the Division of Native Affairs.
- Home Invoice 25-1030 (Accessibility Requirements in Constructing Codes): Regarding the requirement that sure constructing codes have accessibility requirements which can be no less than as stringent as worldwide constructing codes.
- Home Invoice 25-1032 (Enhancing Infrastructure to Cut back Homelessness)
- Home Invoice 25-1043 (Proprietor Fairness Safety in Owners’ Affiliation Foreclosures Gross sales): Regarding the safety of unit house owners in relation to enforcement actions by unit house owners’ associations.
- Senate Invoice 25-002 (Regional Constructing Codes for Manufacturing facility-Constructed Constructions): Regarding the improvement of regional constructing codes that account for native climatic and geographic situations for the development and set up of residential and nonresidential factory-built constructions.
- Senate Invoice 25-006 (Funding Authority of State Treasurer for Inexpensive Housing): Regarding authorization for the state treasurer to speculate state cash for the creation of reasonably priced for-sale housing within the state.
- Senate Invoice 25-013 (Senior Earnings Housing Tax Credit score Extension): Regarding the extension of an revenue tax credit score to assist income-qualified seniors afford housing.
- Senate Invoice 25-016 (Updating Escrow Disbursement Practices): Regarding updating the framework governing escrow disbursements for actual property transactions.
- Senate Invoice 25-020 (Tenant and Landlord Regulation Enforcement): Regarding the enforcement of current landlord-tenant regulation.
Coloradans making a distinction | Denver7 featured movies
Denver7 is dedicated to creating a distinction in our neighborhood by standing up for what’s proper, listening, lending a serving to hand and following via on guarantees. See that work in motion, within the movies above.
