A long-stalled affordable housing development will break ground in Aspen this spring.
The project, planned at 404 Park Avenue, has been in the works since 2014, but was delayed when Aspen’s affordable housing certificate program came into question.
Peter Fornell, who plans to develop the Park Ave. property, helped launch the certificate program in 2010. The program allows builders to develop affordable housing that generates credits, which are then sold to meet housing requirements for other projects.
"I have to rely on these free market developers purchasing these certificates from me in order for me to stay viable," said Fornell.
This fall, the city’s planning office and the Aspen Pitkin County Housing Authority recommended that developer Mark Hunt replace lost housing on property he wants to tear down for development. The Historic Preservation Commission later overruled the decision, voting to allow Hunt to use credit certificates instead of building housing.
The issue could come up at a council meeting this month for further review. The project would hold 67 full-time employees and would break ground later this spring.