Aurora may loan $1.5 million for affordable housing project

Photo byKostiantyn LionUnsplash

The Aurora City Council meeting as the Urban Renewal Authority will consider Monday loaning $1.5 million to a developer for affordable housing called the Fitzsimons Gateway B Apartments.

The low-interest loan would help pay for the $83.5 million project. “The loan will have a payback period of 18 years with a balloon payment due at the end of the term for the outstanding principal and accrued interest,” according to a memo from city staff to the council. “Current conservatively written cashflow projections do not reflect any loan repayments within the first 15 years of project completion. It is the staff’s expectation that the loan will be repaid almost entirely as a balloon payment.” The loan would generate $628,000 in interest income for the city, according to the memo.

The apartments, to sprout at Peoria and Colfax, will feature 210 one- and two-bedroom units. The apartments will be rented to people earning between 30% and 80% of the area’s average median income, or between $24,460 and about $50,000 annually.

The first two floors of the six-story structure will be a parking garage. “The project will include outdoor community spaces on the second floor and main floor spaces for management offices, a community room and fitness center fronting Colfax Avenue,” according to the memo.