A desire to respond to a top challenge facing low-income families in Colorado Springs caught the eye of state officials deciding how sales tax money will be spent to create more affordable housing projects across Colorado.

A quality, government-subsidized early childhood education center for kids from six weeks to 6 years old will be one of the “rich amenities” at the proposed 336-unit Bradley Ridge Apartments, which recently got a boost of financial assistance from the 2022 voter-approved Proposition 123.

The 14-building complex with 24 units apiece will be built on 20 acres southeast of the Colorado Springs Airport along Bradley Road.

Out of 21 projects that won awards totaling nearly $48 million in the latest round of Land Banking funding from the 2022 election ballot measure, land buyer Pikes Peak Real Estate Foundation received the largest cut of $4.85 million.

“We know finding stable housing isn’t simply about a roof over our heads — it’s all the things like child care, transportation, employment, education, health care and more,” said Sam Clark, executive director of the Pikes Peak Real Estate Foundation. “We need to start thinking about affordable housing holistically.”

The taxpayer funds will buy a vacant parcel that’s surrounded by newly rising commercial and residential construction projects in a fast-growing subdivision. The transaction should close in October, Clark said.

The developer, Lincoln Avenue Communities, a Santa Monica, Calif.-based company whose first local new affordable housing project was InterQuest Ridge in northern Colorado Springs, sought to add amenities that would add value for residents, Clark said.

And child care is a bullish commodity.

“We said we’ll do the groundwork, you do the assets,” Clark said. “They’ll do the building and own it and manage it and take care of all upgrades.”

A 99-year lease for $1 a year will be part of the deal.

“Working families need good jobs and stable housing, and one of the gaps is it’s hard to find affordable child care in Colorado Springs,” Clark said.

El Paso County has an estimated shortage of 16,000 child care slots for children under age 5, said Liz Denson, president and CEO of Early Connections Learning Centers. The nonprofit organization will operate the standalone center at Bradley Ridge Apartments.

The facility will have 70 seats, with preferred placement for apartment residents. Denson will hire another 20 employees to work there.

“The critical need for early education has not lessened,” she said. “The Bradley Ridge model could be easily replicated. It creates such an opportunity to solve two of our country’s most pressing challenges — housing and high-quality child care.”

Amanda Gonzalez, director of the organization’s center on Chelton Road, said many people needing affordable child care are single parents, but her 64-slot center is maxed out at capacity with a waiting list that’s “getting longer.”

“We have kids that come to us at 6 weeks and leave our facility as they’re ready to go to kindergarten,” she said. “They become like family. A new center will be very beneficial to the community.”

Gov. Jared Polis and the Land Banking fund’s overseers, the Colorado Office of Economic Development and International Trade, and Colorado Housing and Finance Authority, announced the 2024-2025 award recipients on May 7.

The selected proposals for newly built and rehabbed existing properties are estimated to add 1,892 multi-family rentals and homes for ownership in Colorado Springs, Fort Collins, Fruita, Montrose and Pagosa Springs, according to the governor’s office.

The Bradley Ridge complex will offer 924 beds for renters earning 60% or less of the annual area median income — $112,500 for a family of four.

Thus, the maximum rent at 60% for a three-bedroom unit would be $1,755, including utilities and parking, according to the Colorado Housing Finance Authority’s 2025 rate for El Paso County.

“The incomes that qualify for this housing mean a family making $45,000 a year would save $4,800 a year on housing and $7,000 a year on child care,” Clark said. “Child care is a high expense for working families, and we know that when we invest in early childhood education, the children get a really good start in life.”

The complex will also feature a community clubhouse, splash pad, playground, dog parks and open space.

The project has received other funding breaks, including a $76 million private activity bond that Colorado Springs City Council approved last week, another $64 million in bond capacity from the city over the past year and $12 million in state allowance.

The first phase of Bradley Ridge is projected to open in the spring of 2028.

Another affordable housing project in Colorado Springs, the Flats at Sand Creek by Arvada-based Fairview Housing Partners Ltd., also received Land Banking funding of $4.05 million to construct 144 rental units on about 7 acres northeast of North Carefree Circle and Peterson Road. Plans call for six, three-story buildings and 282 parking spaces.

Last fiscal year, the nonprofit We Fortify was awarded $470,000 in Proposition 123 funds to purchase property on North Prospect Street, north of Fillmore Avenue, to build its second tiny home village for young adults exiting homelessness or at-risk of losing housing.

Contact the writer: 719-476-1656.