The School District 11 Board of Education is mulling an agreement with the Colorado Springs Urban Renewal Authority to help finance two separate development projects within the district.

One would create workforce housing in the Lowell neighborhood east of Nevada Avenue and south of East Fountain Boulevard, while the other would look to help finance the proposed downtown skyscraper project that would serve as a mixed-use residential and commercial development. The sites for both proposed projects are vacant.

During a work session Wednesday night, Urban Renewal Authority Executive Director Jariah Walker, along with representatives of One VeLa and the O’Neill Group presented the board with information on both projects.

The Lowell neighborhood project, referred to as the Bristow and Lowell Commons, would create just under 400 units intended as workforce housing across two new buildings. Rental options for one- and two-bed and studio apartments would range from $1,300 to $2,400 a month per unit with construction costs of approximately $128 million.

How the school district specifically would benefit, representatives contended, would be through increased options for attainable housing for both new potential families and students, along with the district’s workforce, who struggle to find affordable housing.

D-11 Superintendent Michael Gaal agreed, saying there was “only an upside” for them with this proposal.

“Every type of employee group that works in District 11 can find a space there that works for them and their family and their needs,” he said.

“Instead of us just segmenting and saying, ‘You only make this much, so you can only live here.’”

One VeLa’s downtown proposal is similar to previous projections and would create over 400 units with monthly rates ranging from $1,705 per unit to $6,335 for penthouse duplexes. The cost is projected at $202 million. Unlike the Bristow-Lowell project, it is intended to serve a more diverse group of renters with more luxury options and a focus on catering to a downtown demographic.

In both cases, the projects would be funded partly through a property tax revenue increment agreement between D-11 and the Urban Renewal Authority, since both areas sit within the district’s jurisdiction and would revitalize areas considered blighted.

Tax-increment financing is a mechanism that uses the projected increase in property tax revenue of the new development to finance its costs as it’s being developed.

D-11 Chief Financial Officer Brandan Comfort added that, because of the guaranteed funding the district receives from the state through the Public School Finance Act, any tax dollars the district would divert to the project would get backfilled by the state, unlike other local tax-collecting entities. If the plan is ultimately rejected, the district experiences no financial loss.

“There is no risk in this,” he said of their participation at the meeting.

If the agreement were to get approved, it would only ensure that the incremental taxes would be allocated to the respective projects. The district would have no part in the development of either project, but merely sign off on the financial plan and allocation going forward upon its approval from other taxing bodies, the city’s workforce and housing committee and City Council members.

The board will decide to approve or deny the resolution for the agreement at its next regular board meeting Sept. 4.