Snowmass Village, CO—The Town of Snowmass Village announces the official completion of the Rodeo Place affordable housing project with the closing of the final residences. Since breaking ground in 2006, this development has added 70 bedrooms in 21 single family homes and eight duplex units to the Snowmass Village community.
Rodeo Place—a collaboration between the Town of Snowmass Village, Coburn Development, Kauffman Construction, Inc., and Rudd Construction— allows approximately 100 Snowmass Village employees to reside in the Village full-time.
“We wanted to provide efficient and sustainable homes for an affordable price and this project achieved that,” said Joe Coffey, Snowmass Village housing director.
All Rodeo Place homes and duplex units were constructed to exceed code mandated efficiency standards by a significant margin. Features installed in the homes include energy star rated appliances, compact fluorescent lighting fixtures, and low-flow dual-flush toilets. They are heated by 92 percent efficient boilers with the domestic hot water supply supplemented by a 46,000 BTU solar thermal system.
Many of these green measures—made possible by grants from the Community Office for Resource Efficiency—not only make these homes more comfortable, but more affordable for residents through lower electric and heating bills. According to project architect Coburn Development—an award-winning designer of efficient affordable housing in Colo., HERS energy ratings performed on the latest homes constructed at Rodeo Place indicated that they exceed 2009IECC code requirements by as much as 50 percent. This results in a calculated annual energy saving of over $1,000.
In addition to the energy efficiency measures installed in the homes, modular construction methods were utilized to save both money and construction time.
The Town of Snowmass Village considers affordable employee housing to be a critical element of success—with a goal to provide housing for 60 percent of full-time, year-round employees. This assures an adequate workforce, creates a diverse, vibrant community, and lessens the environmental impacts of commuting.
“Without affordable housing, Snowmass Village would truly be more of a resort instead of a resort community,” Coffey said. “Rodeo Place put a lot of families in their first homes. It is incredibly rewarding to keep people here as they move through different life phases. There are a lot of kids in that neighborhood and it looks like a wonderful place to grow up.”