Affordable Housing Nexus Study for Single Family Additions and Demolitions

The City of Boulder is working to support community housing needs, including preserving and enhancing housing choices. As part of this initiative the city has initiated a project to explore the extent that replacement homes and substantial additions to homes contribute to the need for affordable housing. The city has selected consultant Gruen Gruen + Associates to assist with this project.

  1. Plan

  2. Implement

  3. Complete

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Plan

Project Overview

The project will examine the causal connections, or nexus, between single-family housing teardowns (or significant alterations/expansions) in Boulder and conditions within the local economy and housing market. These types of demolitions often remove a smaller, relatively affordable home and replace it with a large expensive home. Similarly, substantial additions effectively replace more affordable smaller homes with larger more expensive homes, reducing affordability. This type of development is not subject to the city’s existing Inclusionary Housing regulations because it is not considered “new” residential development. Thus, these projects are not currently required to contribute toward affordable housing in the community. The Nexus Study is necessary to determine to what extent replacement homes and substantial additions contribute to the need for affordable housing.

This study would help the city in establishing the appropriate fee level and assess the potential impact of the maximum supportable fees for residential demolition/rebuilding projects. Staff anticipates presenting the results of the nexus study to the Housing Advisory Board, Planning Board, and City Council next spring. 

Timeline

The need to examine demolitions and replacement of single-family homes and/or significant additions was identified as a priority by City Council as part of the update to the Inclusionary Housing program in late 2023. The project was included as part of the Housing and Human Services workplan for 2024.

Staff anticipates presenting the results of the nexus study to the Housing Advisory Board, Planning Board, and City Council in Spring of 2025.