Oak 140 affordable-housing project eyes income-tax credit, Q2 2021 groundbreaking

FORT COLLINS — A month after the Fort Collins Planning and Zoning Commission approved designs for a five-story, 78-unit downtown affordable-housing tower, the project has rebranded as Oak 140 and entered the income-tax-credit review process with the Colorado Housing and Finance Authority, said Matt Robenalt, executive director of the Fort Collins Downtown Development Authority. 

Developers for Oak 140, which had previously been branded as “Spark,” are expecting to receive a notice of award for the income-tax credit by the end of October. Groundbreaking is slated for the second quarter of 2021, Robenalt said. Construction is expected to take about 18 months.

The official address for the project will be 140 E. Oak St., located west of Remington Street, east of Montezuma Fuller Alley, and north of East Oak Street. It will also include the parcel at 143 Remington St. 

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The land is owned by the Downtown Development Authority. It was the site of the former Elks Lodge. The Benevolent & Protective Order of Elks deeded the property to the DDA in 2008. The lodge was demolished in 2012. 

Oak 140 is being developed by Housing Catalyst, a Fort-Collins-based housing nonprofit that operates 17 income-restricted apartment complexes around the city. The 95,443-square-foot building will feature three studio apartments, 60 one-bedroom units, and 15 two-bedroom apartments. 

The units will be restricted to residents earning between 30 percent and 80 percent of the area’s average median income. For downtown Fort Collins, that would be between $18,350 and $48,850 based on the median of $61,100 listed by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.

Apartments will take up the top three floors of the five-story, 57-foot-9-inch building. The second floor will hold 54 parking spaces. The ground level will consist of two commercial units. The DDA will own one, and Housing Catalyst will own the other. The DDA will look to lease its space to a user who wouldn’t normally be able to afford commercial space downtown, Robenalt said.

Once the project receives a decision on its income-tax credit, its last step before construction will be to secure building permits.