On October 12, 2021, the Frisco Town Council approved a pilot, long-term rental incentive program that aims to immediately increase the number of long-term rental units available to the Town’s local workforce. The Town of Frisco is partnering with Omni Real Estate to administer the program, which offers financial incentives to homeowners who are currently making their properties available in the short-term rental market, in order to convert them into long-term rentals.
Town Council directed staff to launch this pilot program with the target goal being of housing approximately 24 Town of Frisco employees for six-months with a program budget of $100,000, which includes management fees. This will give the Town a chance to focus on how this program works with their own employees, before it is launched to the larger community.
Program basics
- In the preliminary program, the Town will master lease a property and in turn, sub-lease the property to full-time or seasonal employees that have already been screened with a background check from the hiring process.
- Depending on unit type and condition, the owner’s expenses, and employee’s wages, each agreement will be negotiated to reflect the specifics of the situation.
- Omni Real Estate, a local real estate and property management group in Summit County, has experience with programs that assist residents in finding long-term housing and negotiating leases that are affordable.
- Staff will continue to fine-tune the program details to achieve optimal outcomes for both homeowners and tenants.
- Summit County and the Town of Breckenridge are also moving forward with short-term rental conversion program, Lease to Locals, in an effort to increase the number of long-term rental units available in the County.
The Frisco Town Council authorized staff to amend the deed restriction acquisition program known as – Housing Helps 2.0 with Resolution 21-17. The goal is to incentivize real estate buyers and homeowners to deed restrict their property to maintain and sustain homes for locals in the community. The Town will pay buyers, businesses, current property owners, and investors to accept a deed restriction on homes that are currently unrestricted.
The amount that will be paid for a deed restriction will vary depending on the market and how well the home meets current needs in the community. The Town estimates that the value of the deed restriction may be in the range of 10-15% of the market value of the property. Participants may use the funds towards their down payment to purchase a property. In return, the recipients are required to execute an occupancy-only deed restriction (occupant must work 30 hours a week within one mile of the Ten Mile Basin) that will insure the property is used for local housing into perpetuity.
Program Options
- Option 1: Town purchases a deed restriction from a home buyer as a down-payment assistance program (buyers may include businesses) that limits occupancy to local workforce community members with no income cap, no price appreciation cap, or no household size requirement.
- Option 2: Town purchases a deed restriction from a current property owner (including businesses and developers) that limits occupancy to local workforce community members with no income cap, no price appreciation cap, or no household size requirement.
- Option 3: Town purchases a market rate or existing deed restricted housing unit and resells the property with a deed restriction limiting occupancy to local workforce community members. Income caps, price appreciation caps, and/or household size requirements. Income caps, price appreciation caps, and/or household size limits may be imposed at the discretion of the Town.
- Option 4: Town provides financial assistance to a current property owner to construct an accessory dwelling unit that is deed restricted under the terms of the affordable housing incentives of Section 180-5.5 of the Frisco Unified Development Code.
How to Apply:
- Complete the online Housing Helps application
- If approved, the Housing Manager will assist with processing the Housing Helps Purchase Agreement and Housing Restrictive Covenant
- Process typically takes about 30-45 days, similar to a real estate transaction
In March 2017, Frisco Town Council made the decision to form a Housing Task Force consisting of community members with diverse backgrounds related to housing. The Housing Task Force had their first meeting on May 11, 2017 and were scheduled to meet twice a month for 6 months going forward (finished meeting in November 2017) . The goal of the task force was to assist the Frisco Town Council by creating a strategic housing plan for the short and long term workforce housing needs of the community. Areas of recommendation would include housing project priorities, code incentives and 5A fund strategies, among other issues.
Housing Task Force members were chosen by Town Council after a robust application and selection process and met together at times and in separate groups, one focusing on projects and the other focusing on policy.
In August 2017, the Projects group put together a charrette to look at 3 different Town owned parcels and presented the results to Town Council at an August work session. The results can be found in the Housing Task Force Charrette Overview.
2018 Housing Task Force Final Report Final
In November of 2006 the voters authorized a County-wide 0.125% sales tax and a development impact fee for affordable housing purposes. This was renewed by voters in 2015 into perpetuity.
A new construction fund (5A) .6% tax was approved by Summit County voters in November of 2016 and ends in 2026 (10 years).
It is also likely that the Town of Frisco will utilize its Capital Improvement Fund for workforce housing projects as needed to augment what is collected through dedicated sales tax sources
Frisco’s land use regulations provide an incentive for the development of workforce housing units. The code allows for an unlimited number of additional “bonus” units within a development as long 50% of the additional bonus units are deed restricted. It works like this. Let’s say a property can build 10 residential units based on the density allowed for the zone district in which the property is located. The Town refers to these units as being allowed “outright”. The developer proposes 20 units instead of the 10 units allowed outright, for an additional 10 bonus units. This means that 50% of the bonus units (5 in this case) must be deed restricted for qualified employees who work at least 30 hours per week in Summit County.
Frisco has very permissive code provisions that allow accessory dwelling units in almost all zone districts. Accessory rental units allow land owners to have an extra unit of density on a property, allowing for the infusion of additional workforce units within the town and providing a source of income to land owners. Accessory dwelling units must be deed restricted to workers in the county.
The Town of Frisco and the Colorado Department of Transportation (CDOT) have partnered to develop plans for workforce housing at 619 Granite Street in Frisco. The approximately 0.58 acre site, was previously used as a mobile home park to provide affordable housing for CDOT employees. CDOT is now looking to redevelop the site in collaboration with the Town of Frisco as workforce rental housing – 619 Granite Street Workforce Housing Project.
There are several resources in Frisco and Summit County to help employees and community members with their long-term housing needs.
In September 2019, The Town Council approved a new Residential Housing Restrictive Covenant and Notice of Lien which any deed restricted owner has the option to opt in anytime in the future. Learn more and review the Frequently Asked Questions regarding this new covenant.
