Willoughby Corner set to break ground in May 2023

This is the Boulder County Housing Authority's 400 unit affordable housing project at Emma and 120th.

Apr 30, 2023

I am a member of the East Lafayette Advisory Committee (ELAC) as a representative of Old Town. There were 5 members of ELAC from Old Town, not all are still engaged, but traffic was of course a high concern for us all. Especially those members who live on Emma. I am using images from the Boulder County Housing Authority (BCHA) to illustrate the plan for the whole site as far as traffic and infrastructure goes, and also the plans for the first phase of the development. There are three phases in total.

Lafayette does not have a housing authority so BCHA acts in that capacity for us.

PHASE 1 SITE PLAN

Here’s the entire site plan for phase 1. The yellow numbers correspond with the chart to show the lot number and the chart details the number of units per building.

INFRASTRUCTURE HAPPENS IN PHASE 1 - ABOUT THE TRAFFIC!

The city is requiring that the infrastructure be put in place in this first phase. The plan is to get working on that as soon as Peak to Peak breaks for the summer. Here’s what that infrastructure will be.

Some features to note that are aimed at not only helping the flow and management of new traffic from the development but also to better control (we hope) the current traffic from Peak to Peak. The idea is to have some methods to disperse the traffic in a variety of directions.

A traffic signal at Emma and 120th.
Canterbury Drive exists right now and is how traffic leaves P2P. It will be extended all the way to 120th and will only be a right turn at that point. This gives the P2P traffic two exits out to 120th instead of going west on Emma.
There will be two roundabouts. The roundabout on Emma is designed to slow traffic and also to encourage drivers leaving P2P and Willoughby to turn right and go to the traffic light. Again trying to guide people away from turning left down Emma.
120th will be widened and realigned in preparation for future road work. FYI there are big plans for Baseline and 120th in the not so distant future.
BCHA began working with RTD very early on in the process. RTD will have two routes coming to this development. The agreement gives RTD drivers access to the community building which will be built in this first phase, so they can rest, eat lunch and use the facilities.
Emma Street adjacent to the project will be widened, and sidewalks and bike lanes added.

WHAT ELSE IS IN PHASE 1?

The senior building. It will be located at the south side of the property. There will be 63 units.
The community building.
Two multi-family buildings with a total of 111 units.
Two smaller multi-family buildings they are calling flats, with 9 units in each.

WHO FOR, TYPES OF UNITS AND INCOME LEVELS

It should be noted that due to federal law BCHA cannot give Lafayette residents priority for these units, residents could be from New York or Lafayette. I am calling this a regional housing project not a project for Lafayette residents.

If you are interested in getting on the wait list for a unit sign up here.

The plan is for the entire development to be affordable rentals and for sale housing. At the beginning there were plans to have some of the for sale housing as market rate to help with financing. BCHA is hoping that won’t be needed.

From the BCHA website:

Boulder County Housing Authority (BCHA) will manage the eligibility for the rental housing. Applicants will be required to provide income documentation, as well as pass both criminal and sex offender background checks.

The IGA (intergovernmental agreement) between the City of Lafayette and BCHA calls for 80% of all homes built on the property to be deed-restricted for rents and purchase prices that are well-below-market rate for residents. Of these, 20% should be for-sale and 80% should be rental (Section 9a/b/c). The rental homes are stipulated to serve people earning at or below 60% of the Area Median Income. And at least 10% of the rental homes must be set aside for people age 55 and older.

The US Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) publishes an annual income and rent table that BCHA will use to manage income eligibility. HUD uses Area Median Income (AMI) to determine maximum incomes, and calculates rent plus utilities to be no more than 30% of a household’s income.

FINANCING

Here’s the estimated cost of the project broken down by the sources of funding. You can see all the different entities that are needed for funding. When complete it is estimated Lafayette will have contributed around $11.5 million to the project.