Chaffee Housing Authority Overview

 

Chaffee Housing Authority (CHA) is  an independent public organization, formed in 2020 through a joint agreement between Chaffee County, the City of Salida, and the Town of Buena Vista. 

• CHA’s purpose is to be a community leader partnering for inclusive and secure housing. 

• CHA envisions a thriving community with housing for all.

• CHA’s mission is delivering housing units and stability through partner-driven development, education and advocacy, and impactful programming.  

 

Partner-driven Development: By the end of 2024, CHA’s goal is to add 75 deed-restricted, rental units (13.6% of the 2027 need identified in the 2022 Housing Needs Assessment prepared by CHA) to Chaffee County by constructing Jane’s Place and supporting the lease up of The Midland Apartments (formerly known as Carbonate Street) in partnership with Fading West.

 

The Midland Apartments (formerly known as Carbonate Street): CHA entered into a special limited partnership with Fading West in 2023 to provide sales and property tax abatement to the Midland Apartments development. 

• The Midland Apartments is a 60-unit deed-restricted affordable housing project with 30 studio, 24 one-bedroom, and six two-bedroom units that will serve the workforce and residents of Chaffee County making 80-120% of the Area Median Income (AMI). 

• CHA will also be responsible for the third party employment verification of the tenants at The Midland Apartments.

 

Jane’s Place: CHA is also developing and will manage Jane’s Place, a unique, mixed-use development located in Salida. 

• The development will consist of four buildings that will deliver 17 flexible housing units as well as a nonprofit coworking and social enterprise space. 

• The housing units were designed with direct input from community members and organizations to serve folks in transition needing affordable housing. 

• Residents will include homeless individuals and families, AmeriCorps volunteers, and County workforce making between 80% and 100% of the AMI. 

• Jane’s Place will also be home to a social enterprise coffee shop that serves as a workforce development learning space for neurodiverse adults and  a nonprofit coworking space with meeting rooms. 

• The combined focus of flexible housing, workforce development, and nonprofit capacity building - nestled in a larger mixed-use development in the heart of Salida’s rural community truly will bring people together, foster connections, and provide infrastructure to foster a more deeply connected community for years to come.

 

Other Development Partnerships: CHA also aims to add an additional 75 deed restricted, rental units to be built in the next three years by securing formal, diverse developer partnerships. 

• As of January 2024, CHA is currently in talks with three different developers to form these partnerships - one in Salida, one in Buena Vista, and one in Chaffee County. 

• CHA applied for a land banking grant in 2023 with the developer in Chaffee County to acquire a two-acre parcel.  

 

Education & Advocacy: CHA is heavily involved with education and advocacy work in Chaffee County.

• CHA leadership routinely advocates in front of local jurisdictions for local policy and land use decisions that benefit affordable housing and on behalf of affordable housing development projects. 

• CHA partnered to form the Housing Solutions Coalition with the Chaffee County Community Foundation, the Chaffee Housing Trust, and the Chaffee County EDC to advocate for housing as the top issue facing Chaffee County. The Coalition joined together to elevate the message that the time is now to find housing solutions, believing that we can make our community a place where all members can thrive by working together.

• CHA also provides information for homeowners, tenants and landlords on its website and has a speaker series on Housing & Health available to the public and through KHEN, our local public radio station, known as We Are Chaffee. 

• CHA also serves as an information hub for both tenants and landlords regarding Fair Housing laws and resources for lease mediation.

 

Impactful Programming: CHA’s programming efforts includes managing deed restrictions for the Salida Inclusionary Housing Program, leading the Continuum of Care (CoC), providing housing navigation services, and operating the Rental Deposit Guarantee Program.

 

Inclusionary Housing Program: CHA collaborates with the City of Salida in their campaign to maintain and develop housing that is affordable.

• As the City and local developers build deed-restricted Inclusionary Housing, both rentals and ownership units, CHA qualifies potential residents for each opportunity. 

• These opportunities are restricted to folks who reside and work in Chaffee County and make a certain area median income level.

 

Continuum of Care (CoC): A Continuum of Care is a model of service where community organizations partner to connect unhoused or housing insecure clients with resources appropriate to their situations. 

• CHA started the CoC in Chaffee County. 

• The organizations that meet regularly in Chaffee County’s CoC include CHA, the Department of Human Services, Chaffee Hospitality Inc., the school districts, Veterans Services, SolVista Health, Upper Arkansas Area Council of Governments and the Alliance. 

• If a family or individual loses their housing, the  CoC organizations collaborate to support them in identifying both short-term and long-term housing solutions and providing support in other areas such as household goods, health care navigation, mental health resources, and assistance with replacing or securing vital documents. 

 

Housing Navigation Services are available to all community members regarding all housing resources, from those experiencing homelessness to those looking to buy inclusionary or deed-restricted homes. 

• CHA is a hub of housing information for tenants, landlords, homeowners and homebuyers.

 

Rental Deposit Guarantee Program: CHA also operates the Rental Deposit Guarantee Program that provides a zero interest loan to a tenant for their security deposit on a new lease. 

• Approved tenants repay the loan over the course of the lease. 

• The RDGP is intended to reduce the upfront costs associated with a new rental housing lease agreement and is available to Chaffee County residents who earn up to 120% of the Area Median Income.