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No HOA, but special district will lead to more housing affordability, developer says

Posted at 9:53 PM, Sep 07, 2018
and last updated 2018-09-08 00:20:44-04

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ELBERT COUNTY, Colo. — As Colorado grows, buying a home is becoming increasingly difficult. Now a developer with big plans for a brand new community is doing something to make it more affordable.

In 2017, Elbert County resident Jacqueline Tugwell spoke to Denver7 about the effort to stop the future development, now slated to move forward.

"Farms, ranches, agriculture; you see wildlife; you see cattle. There is no high density," said Tugwell. "We're not Denver. People moved out here to be in the country."

That may change with a master-planned community: Independence. The development will provide more than 900 single-family homes.  

Developer Tim Craft of Craft Companies LLC is behind the development. He told Denver7 there won’t be an  HOA at the Independence; instead a special district will run it.

"It's actually like a mini-town, complete with elections. But because its structured more of a tax, the homebuyers can deduct their monthly fees from their income tax at the end of the year," said Craft.

It’s one of the reasons, twelve months from now, the first homes will list starting in the $300,000 range — well below the median home sale price in Denver. 

It seems like a new idea, but according to the Special District Association of Colorado, 1,600 metropolitan districts already exist in the Centennial State, including Highlands Ranch.

Craft hopes more developers follow suit.

"The goal is to provide attainable housing specifically so that the people that serve in this area can actually afford to live there," said Craft.