News Flash

Durango, CO: City staff plans to announce the groundbreaking of the 120-unit affordable housing project Residences at Durango, on Tuesday. 

The project will convert the former 72-room Best Western Motel at 21382 US Highway 160 into affordable housing. In addition to rehabilitating the current structure, 48 new units will also be constructed. 

The development will serve households earning 30% to 60% of the Area Median Income with a mix of studios, one-bedroom, two-bedroom and three-bedroom units. The projected completion of the development is early 2025.  A groundbreaking celebration is scheduled for Oct. 27. 

Residences at Durango is the first hotel-to-residential conversion in the state to utilize low-income housing tax credit financing and is the largest tax credit project in Southwest Colorado.

Council will hold a Study Session on Tuesday, Sept. 19, at 2:30 p.m. and its regularly scheduled meeting at 5:30 p.m.

At the study session council will: 

• Have a discussion regarding the 2024 proposed budget for community support funding. Community support funding is used to help fund programs like the co-responder program between Durango Police and Axis Healthcare System, the LA Plata County Humane Society, and United Way of Southwest Colorado.  
• Receive an update on the Residences at Durango affordable housing project. The project plans to renovate the former Best Western Motel located at 21382 US Highway 160 into 120 affordable housing units in Durango. 

At the regular meeting council will: 

• Hear a presentation on the SOIL Community Garden. The SOIL Community Garden and Outdoor Learning Lab is an outdoor space rooted in community engagement, educational and economic opportunity, multigenerational collaboration, cultural, and ecological stewardship, and healthy living practices. Based at Riverview Elementary School, the SOIL Community Garden provides educational garden plots for Durango School District 9-R students, and 50 plots are available to rent through Durango Parks and Recreation.
• Vote on a resolution that will enable modifications to the financing structure regarding $4 million in federal grants to keep the Residences at Durango development on track to create 120 affordable housing units in Durango.

• Discuss and possibly act on adopting an ordinance that would prohibit firearms and other deadly weapons in city buildings. 

• Vote to request a public hearing to subdivide 1235 and 1295 Camino del Rio into three lots comprised of lot 1 for the future Durango Fire Protection District Station #2, lot 2 for the Powerhouse Science Center, and lot 3 for city parks uses.
• Vote to convene in executive session to receive legal advice regarding possible litigation concerning a contract dispute involving JRC Consulting.

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Media Contact
Tom Sluis
Public Information Officer 
Phone: (970) 375-5090
Email: Tom.Sluis@durangogov.org

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