Ground will break next week on the Yampa Valley Housing Authority’s latest project, which will bring another 75 homes targeted at low-income residents to Steamboat Springs.

Anglers 400 is the fourth large, apartment-style development for the entity, which promised to create 600 new units of affordable housing when voters approved increased property taxes in 2017. When the project wraps up in the fall, the tally should be at 285.

“The million and a half that the housing authority put in (for this project) is money that came directly from the 5A for homes property tax,” said Jason Peasley, executive director of the housing authority. “We’re cranking them out as fast as we can.”

The $27 million project is funded in a similar way that the authority’s other large projects have been put together, Peasley added.

The bulk of the funding comes from federal and state tax credits totaling about $14 million. Steamboat Springs and Routt County both have some money in their community housing funds for the project, which combined with the housing authority’s contribution, totaled $2 million.

While construction activity is expected to start on Monday, March 28, Peasley said this project has been in the works for about two years.

“There is a ton of pre-work that goes into these projects,” Peasley said, referring to applying for tax credits and getting all the appropriate zoning and planning approvals. “Groundbreaking becomes all the more significant for us because it’s the culmination of years of work to finally be going vertical with delivering more units.”

The 75 units will be targeted at people of low income, whereas the Sunlight Crossing project slated to lease up later this year is being designed for middle-income residents.

Peasley said there will be units for people making 30% to 80% of the area’s median income, including some units for people making as little as $20,000 a year.

The need for housing in Steamboat is clear with more than 800 people recently signing up for an interest list for Sunlight Crossing, which has 90 units.

“You know, 700 of those people will not be getting in,” Peasley said. “It demonstrates that the need is really deep and that we need to continue to provide more and more supply.”

Still, building units that can appeal to people with a variety of income levels is important to allow for some housing mobility. Peasley said the need is so dire that there isn’t that mobility between various projects yet, but he hopes the Brown Ranch project can make that long-term goal attainable.

Anglers 400 will likely get its own interest list sometime next summer in anticipation of completion that fall.

“We believe the Yampa Valley Housing Authority is fulfilling its mission in meeting the demand for local worker housing in Steamboat Springs,” said Alyssa “La La” Cartmill, the housing authority’s regional property manager, in a statement.

“With Sunlight Crossing accepting tenants this summer, Anglers 400 becoming available in the fall of 2023 and our Mid Valley property hopefully a year later in 2024, we will continue to strive to provide housing for our community,” she said.