Housing Solutions in Silverton

by Graham Coffey

Photos by Bridger Hoover

When you walk around Durango and Silverton these days, you’re likely to notice a lot of “Help Wanted” signs on storefronts. The pandemic has created a number of issues with local labor forces, but one of the biggest hits to this area’s service industry lately has been a lack of affordable housing.

With COVID-19 turning more of the world’s workforce remote than ever before, droves of professionals have fled densely populated urban areas on both coasts for small towns in desirable locales. Anyone looking for a new home would find plenty of good reasons to consider Durango, Silverton, and much of the Four Corners area. Record low interest rates and a shortage of inventory have caused housing prices in southwest Colorado to rise at record rates. From April 2020 to August 2021, the average listing price of a home in Durango rose from $420,000 to $589,000.

To a professional from the Bay Area or New York City, those prices may seem cheap; but they’re steeper than most locals can afford. Many would-be firsttime home buyers feel like they’ll have to leave the Durango area to find a housing market in which they’d be able to purchase a home.

The problem is getting worse in Durango, but in a town as small as Silverton the issue is even worse. The median home price is $600,000, and due to the size of the town there is far less inventory. Many of the employees who work the storefronts and serve food to those who visit are forced to commute over some of the most dangerous passes in the lower 48.

Brian Anderson, owner of 9318 Contracting, wants to be part of the solution to this problem, and he has teamed up with the City of Silverton to create a development of affordable housing on the west side of town. Nearly a decade ago, San Juan County was awared a grant to buy a piece of property and create affordable and attainable housing. The development was put together by the county, and deed restrictions were written, but it sat dormant for years until Anderson came knocking. “We stumbled on it when we were looking at a piece of dirt we wanted to develop and build houses on,” Anderson said. “The county said we’ve got this land, and

we’re looking to develop affordable and attainable housing.” 9318 Contracting worked with Carolyn Hunter, with Context Architecture, to design and build a house that was under a certain price point and still beautiful. When asked why he decided to take on this project when there is plenty of money to be made building and selling more expensive houses in the current market, Anderson pointed out that if somebody doesn’t start building affordable houses there won’t be anyone left to work in the town.

“For an old house built in the 1920s or 1930s, people are paying $600,000,” he said. “We’re building new homes up to today’s standards for $230,000. To do this you have to have a passion for building affordable and attainable houses. I could build a $600,000 home and sell it for a million, but that’s not helping the community or San Juan County. At some point that person working at the Coffee Bear and serving coffee isn’t going to be able to afford to live here anymore.”

To ensure the houses don’t become investment properties or short-term rentals, there’s a maximum income for potential purchasers. The homes are built to be affordable, but they are designed to withstand the harsh winter temperatures and the almost 200 inches of snow Silverton averages every year. To keep costs down, each home meets high energy-efficiency standards.

While building in Silverton comes with challenges, like a short building season and being 60 miles from the lumberyard, Anderson stresses that San Juan County has been instrumental in moving the development forward by taking such measures as waiving tap fees and running utilities to the houses.

“San Juan County has gone above and beyond to get this development off the ground. Anything we need, they take care of. And by securing this land for affordable development, they’ve done what a lot of other counties probably should have done a decade ago. Without the help of the county, the City of Silverton, Carolyn Hunter, my wife Beth, and Builder’s First Source, this project never could have happened.

With the houses being built for each individual buyer, Anderson says they can’t get them up fast enough for the people who want to buy them. “We’re very fortunate to live here and own a home and have these beautiful mountains out our door. We wanted to help people get into a house they could afford in the town they work in and be able to call this beautiful place home.”