Project Updates
After a robust selection process, Gunnison County is moving forward with negotiations with Servitas as the development partner for the Whetstone Community Housing project. Servitas is a minority and woman-owned Limited Liability Corporation.
Servitas was selected based on their alignment with the goals and guiding principles for Whetstone, and the financial strength and experience of their team. Servitas was established in 2001 and is a well-capitalized private company providing a full scope of real estate services. With 56 employees and a national reach, Servitas has successfully undertaken housing projects of all sizes across the U.S. Servitas specializes in Public Private Partnerships. Servitas has delivered and is currently developing more than 20,000 beds in a variety of types, from three-story wood-frame walkup buildings to nine-story concrete and steel high-rises.
Reasons for selecting the Servitas team as the development partner for Whetstone include:
Servitas was selected based on their alignment with the goals and guiding principles for Whetstone, and the financial strength and experience of their team. Servitas was established in 2001 and is a well-capitalized private company providing a full scope of real estate services. With 56 employees and a national reach, Servitas has successfully undertaken housing projects of all sizes across the U.S. Servitas specializes in Public Private Partnerships. Servitas has delivered and is currently developing more than 20,000 beds in a variety of types, from three-story wood-frame walkup buildings to nine-story concrete and steel high-rises.
Reasons for selecting the Servitas team as the development partner for Whetstone include:
- County ownership and long term stewardship of public resources: the land ownership for Whetstone remains with the County in an unsubordinated ground lease, along with opportunity for County ownership of the improvements;
- Ability to serve missing middle: the strong financing strategy for the project will enable the site to offer a variety of housing units for rent and for sale, serving community members with different brackets of income;
- Responsiveness: throughout the selection process, the Servitas team has been very responsive to the County’s request for additional information and modifications, an insight into what future collaboration will look like between the Servitas and the County teams.
- Capacity and team experience: Servitas has assembled a team of very experienced firms for this project, including, but not limited to, Hord Coplan Macht for design and architecture, Norris Design for landscape, Makers Line for general contracting, Western Spaces for market study consultant. In addition, Servitas has a strong presence in the Colorado mountains, and is currently developing 82 units of for-sale and for-rent workforce housing for the Town of Pagosa Springs, Colorado and 162 units of for-rent housing in Summit County, Colorado. They are used to tight supply, high costs, and strong need, and are highly interested and motivated to deploy innovative strategies to deliver housing at Whetstone.
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The ProjectThe project was launched by Gunnison County in 2019 when it purchased the 13-acre Whetstone parcel, located just south of the Town of Crested Butte, with the intent of developing an affordable and workforce housing neighborhood for local community members.
Over the past years, the team led by Trestle Strategy Group and Williford LLC conducted extensive outreach and technical exploration to create the Sketch Plan that was approved. As the name implies, Sketch Plan is just the beginning. |
Community EngagementCreating a successful development strategy involves a solid understanding of the community’s needs and interests, as well as the technical characteristics of the site and development finances. Throughout the project, community members and stakeholders have been invited to share their perspective with the project team through a robust engagement process. Click below to learn about it.
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Whetstone Community Housing | 2022 |
