“So let me show you how close the church is,” the Rev. Benjamin Anderson said Wednesday to Colorado Gov. Jared Polis.

The pastor motioned the governor over to a window in the community room of the new Village at Solid Rock affordable housing development in southeast Colorado Springs.

The two peered at Solid Rock Christian Center, the church Anderson leads, on the other side of the parking lot.

“We’re just across the street — it’s 100 feet away,” Anderson said with pride.

The apartment complex for low-income residents is the first in Colorado Springs to be built on land a church owns.

Polis said while visiting the 77-unit Village at Solid Rock, which opened in September, that he’s pushing for more faith communities around the state to do the same.

“We’re starting to see more interest from the faith-based communities,” the governor said. “One of the long-term ways we can address people’s needs is by providing more safe, clean housing, the same as you’d find in any neighborhood.”

A legislative proposal Polis is promoting is based on the Yes in God’s Backyard Act, a federal bill introduced in Congress in March that would “provide technical assistance and grants for faith-based organizations, institutions of higher education and local governments to increase the supply of affordable rental housing, and for other purposes.”

Polis said he’d like to see zoning considerations to allow faith-based organizations to develop affordable housing on their land throughout Colorado — and he’ll be advocating for that as the 2025 Colorado General Assembly session opens on Jan. 8.

State lawmakers passed legislation earlier this year to create more housing near transit lines, allow for Accessory Dwelling Units on private property and eliminate unnecessary parking mandates that raise housing costs, all of which Polis signed into law.

In leading Polis on a tour of the Village at Solid Rock, Anderson and Lee Patke, executive director of property manager Greccio Housing, said units range from $700 to $1,400 a month for renters, depending on household income.

A two-bedroom Polis toured that will rent for $1,100 to $1,400 as an affordable unit would lease for $2,500 to $3,000 a month at market rate, Anderson said.

“We need all-hands-on-deck, and it’s great you’re part of the solution,” Polis told Anderson. “Hopefully, you’ll inspire other faith-based organizations to step up.”

“We’re an example to the city of how to accomplish it,” Anderson replied.

With a large community room, a fitness center, washers and dryers, outdoor play areas and church volunteers ready to pitch in with anything residents need, Anderson said the complex is a quality development.

“We didn’t want Colorado Springs to have some reputation of ‘less than,’” he said.

Wasting no time, the second affordable housing project for Solid Rock Community Development Corp., which Anderson also heads, is progressing, he told the governor.

The 70-unit Jet Wing Flats at 2040 Jet Wing Drive, 3 miles away from the first project, is one of 10 proposals around the state to be awarded federal and state Housing Tax Credits in November through the Colorado Housing and Finance Authority.

Solid Rock and its partner Commonwealth Development Corp. will receive 4% tax credits amounting to $3.15 million to build Jet Wing Flats.

The complex of one-, two- and three-bedroom apartments at Chelton Crossing, a retail and multi-family redevelopment center at Chelton Road and Jet Wing Drive, will serve homeless individuals and families.

The property will feature an all-electric design and accept renters earning 30% to 80% of the area median income.

Property manager Greccio Housing will provide residents with services such as homework help for students, financial literacy, job searching and family-living skills.

Residents also will have “access to programs that promote economic mobility and wealth generation,” according to the application for tax credits.

“We already own the land and are in the planning stages,” Anderson told Polis.

Other affordable housing projects in Colorado Springs that have updates include the following:

Bentley Commons

Bentley Commons, a joint project of three Colorado Springs housing-focused nonprofits, will open leasing in January for the first of six buildings in a $65 million expansion of a former luxury condominium site off Hancock Expressway near South Academy and Astrozon boulevards.

About three months later, the first renters will move into the new apartments, said Lee Patke, executive director of Greccio Housing, one of the three organizations orchestrating the project.

The other five new buildings will come online four to six weeks apart following the initial opening, he said.

Mary Stegner, executive director of Partners in Housing, and Nate Clyncke, executive director of Rocky Mountain Community Land Trust, make up the other partners in the development.

When completed in mid-2025, 168 new one-, two- and three-bedroom apartments of independent living for families, singles and veterans earning between 30% and 60% of the area median income will be on the market.

Together with the existing 24 units on the site, the development will feature a total of 192 apartments. Twenty-eight units will be reserved for veterans who receive housing vouchers and assistance through the federal Department of Veterans Affairs.

“We’ll have 44 of the 192 at 60%, but the majority will be for 50% or below, for which we have very high demand,” Patke said. “We see no problem filling these units. We’re pretty excited; it’s a big project.”

The complex spans more than 7 acres and has been 15 years in the making. It’s unusual because of the structure of three local nonprofits undertaking the effort, he said, since developments of this size normally involved out-of-state investors and overseers.

“This project is important to our three organizations for the benefit of our community,” he said.

The property’s two existing buildings, which initially were intended to be luxury condos but became a casualty of the Great Recession, needed mold remediation, upgrades to mechanical rooms along with new water heaters, furnaces, air conditioning, flooring and paint in units. The work has been completed, said Stegner of Partners in Housing.

Existing residents were temporarily displaced for a couple of weeks to a month, she said, but were placed in other units either on the site or elsewhere in properties that the partner organizations operate.

Patke said they were also reimbursed for moving costs and other expenses.

“It was inconvenient — we did not expect residents to have to move out — but because resident rights are incredibly important to us, we hired a professional consultant to make sure their moves happen to protect their rights,” he said.

The Place

The Lauchpad, a 50-unit permanent supportive apartment complex for homeless young adults ages 18-24 that began construction in the fall of 2023, is projecting an April opening, according to Becky Treece, CEO of The Place, which is developing the property off 19th Street and Uintah Avenue.

The project has been delayed by glitches in the construction industry’s supply chain, she said, adding that she expects the $20 million base cost to grow as it nears completion.

A lawsuit filed by a neighborhood watch group against the city to stop building on the unique property has been dismissed.

“It was resolved in a way that said there is not a justifiable claim,” Treece said.

With housing prices continuing to climb in the local market, a lack of affordable housing remains for homeless people trying to return to stable housing, according to Treece.

“The need will only get worse,” Treece said, mentioning recent announcements of restaurant closures removing more minimum-wage jobs from the workforce.

The Launchpad has been designed to help heal trauma that homeless young adults have experienced and build connectivity to each other.

For example, small reading nooks are positioned next to a large common area to allow for alone time and community time. Also, a laundry room has windows that overlook the complex’s TV lounge, and a community kitchen leads to an outdoor setting for residents.

The complex is not a shelter; Treece said The Place will continue to run its 20-bed emergency overnight shelter at 423 E. Cucharras St., for homeless teens ages 15-24.

Residents of The Place will sign a one-year lease and commit to use support such as job placement, life-skills coaching and health care through Peak Vista Community Health Services.

The Place also will continue its current model of transitional housing with 65 units for young-adult clients in five rental complexes in the community.

The Launchpad is being funded through a public-private partnership and various grants, aiming to save taxpayers money in the long run, Treece said.

“Our hope is that we have more significant outcomes in moving youth toward independence,” she said.

Leasing will begin in early 2025.

Hunt Family Housing Project

After receiving approval from Colorado Springs’ city planning department, obtaining building permits and securing the state’s 25% Homeless Contribution income tax credit, Catholic Charities of Central Colorado announced earlier this month that construction has begun on its Hunt Family Housing Project.

The old two-story schoolhouse is being transformed into 24 apartments for homeless families who have lost stable housing and are temporarily living in emergency shelters, on the streets or in their vehicles.

The $5.2 million rehab is scheduled to be completed in the summer of 2025, according to the organization.

Catholic Charities purchased the Helen Hunt Campus in December of 2022 to convert the former elementary school in the Hillside neighborhood into transitional housing for indigent and low-income parents with children.

The apartment complex will provide supportive services for residents, including those offered by organizations that have existing offices on the campus, such as the Head Start affiliate, CPCD and the Shandy Clinic, a private outpatient therapy clinic. Catholic Charities’ counseling and therapeutic services also will be available.

“Achieving safe, stable housing allows families to concentrate on other stabilizing factors such as employment, health, savings and raising thriving families,” the organization said.

Sign-up for leasing will begin in the spring.