Editorial: Potential sale of Boulder County campus offers opportunity for affordable housing in city

Boulder’s housing market ranks as one of the most expensive in Colorado, with median sale prices ranging from $1.2 million to almost $1.9 million so far this year. That makes living in the city unattainable for many workers, young families and seniors.
But a potential sale of Boulder County’s North Broadway campus represents a rare opportunity to address the housing shortage.
Boulder County on Aug. 25 solicited bids for the 17.5-acre property that functions as a government-services hub. That action came as the county began the process of rezoning the property from its present public-land-use designation to allow for residential uses, smoothing the entitlements process for buyers that might want to redevelop it.
The property, located at 1333 Iris Ave., includes five office buildings, parking lots, ballfields and paths, carrying an assessed valuation of $24.4 million. Boulder County intends to relocate operations to an office building that it acquired in December for $14.4 million. County officials estimate the consolidation at the 2525 28th St. site will save $15 million in operating costs over the next eight years.
To its credit, Boulder County is requiring bidders to demonstrate how their proposals would contribute to affordable or attainable housing. That stipulation should be enforced, and city leaders should work with the county and future developers to ensure that the property does not become yet another enclave of luxury homes.
No development — or redevelopment — is ever easy in Boulder. One has but to look at the years-long process for the former Armory and Boulder Community Hospital projects on North Broadway or the Weathervane development on East Arapahoe Avenue for recent examples.
Projects often are met with neighborhood resistance and a sometimes cumbersome and time-consuming city development-review process.
Residents surrounding the property undoubtedly will voice opinions on the scope, look and feel of any redevelopment, as is their right. For its part, the city has been working to streamline the development-review process to reduce red tape, needless backlogs and bureaucratic delays.
We’ll see how that plays out with this potential redevelopment.
It’s unclear how much housing could be built on the county property, and we’re under no illusion that a single project will solve Boulder’s housing shortage.
But the North Broadway campus, if redeveloped with affordability at its forefront, could serve as a model for how surplus public assets can be repurposed and leveraged to meet public needs. The county and the city should not let this opportunity slip away.

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