CAN CONDOS MAKE A COMEBACK IN COLORADO? DESPITE NEW LAW, BUILDERS SKEPTICAL
A lack of options for first-time homebuyers has saddled the Colorado housing market for two decades, due in no small part to restrictive state laws discouraging builders from constructing new condominiums. According to one study, the number of condo developers in the state shrank by 84% between 2007 and 2022.
New legislation signed by Governor Jared Polis is an attempt to remove these obstacles and make condos – considered a lower-cost option for entrylevel homeownership – easier to build.
Under the old law, builders were easy targets for lawsuits by condo owners who claimed to find a construction defect. Previously, only a simple majority of HOA (homeowners association) members could authorize a suit against a builder – a fact that made it difficult for contractors or developers to get insurance.
The new law now requires approval of 65% of HOA members to sue. It also allows builders of condos – as well as townhomes and other attached housing – to opt into a program that offers a warranty to owners, pledging to cover repairs for defects for a specified period of time.
How will the condo market respond? A sampling of Northern Colorado builders suggests that House Bill 1272 does little to improve the situation. Consequently, there may be little impact when the law takes effect on Jan. 1, 2026.
Among the builders’ concerns:
• If builders opt in to the warranty program, insurance carriers could push back. The law identifies hundreds of possible repairs to make, yet gives the builder minimal time to satisfy the complaint. “We believe our insurance carrier would actually drop us if we decided to do that,” said one builder.
• A builder’s insurance costs for condos will still remain higher than for building fee-simple housing units, a fact that will continue to keep builders from pursuing condo projects.
• The legislation fails to address a more pressing barrier to affordable housing, which is the high cost of development fees in Northern Colorado – such as building permits and water taps – that builders and developers must pay up front.
Even if the law creates the desired effect, it’s not likely to open the floodgates for condominiums. According to another builder, his firm is going to focus its plans on the needs of a given community.
“Our approach will be the same as previous years,” he said. “We will look at each community and the needs for attainable housing in any given market to determine the percentage of attached housing.”
A CLOSER LOOK AT HOUSE BILL 1272
Known as the Construction Defects & Middle Market Housing bill, the law takes effect on Jan. 1, 2026. It’s designed to reduce liability risks for builders, making them more likely to develop and construct attached housing in Colorado, which is historically less expensive than single-family detached housing.
The law creates the Multifamily Construction Incentive Program (MCIP). Builders can opt into this program if they offer a warranty for any defects and damage, and if they agree to hire a third-party inspector to review the construction periodically throughout the building process.
A homeowner who purchased a property built under the MCIP then has six years to bring an action for damages; but the homeowner has a duty to mitigate damage alleged to be caused by a defect and notify the builder, who must offer a fix to any defect claims. If the issue is not resolved through this warranty process, the homeowner may proceed with a defect claim.
Please call me to discuss how HB 1272 may affect you.
HOMEBUYER, BE AWARE: THE COST OF WAITING CAN BE COSTLY
If the cost of buying a home today seems daunting, what’s the cost of putting it off? Well, it can be something you come to regret. For all the gloom-saying about the housing market – e.g., interest rates too high, prices too high – there are sound reasons for a would-be buyer to make their move sooner rather than later.
Let’s look at a scenario for purchasing a $750,000 home. For a buyer who can start with a 20% downpayment, and buy today compared to waiting a year, you stand to benefit to the tune of $31,124 in just one year. Here’s how:
At current interest rates for a 30-year loan, your monthly mortgage would be $4,525. If you waited a year and interest rates ultimately declined by 1%, your monthly payment would be $4,327, or $198 less per month.
At first blush, it looks like the person who waits is the winner, but not so fast.
Based on industry forecasts, a buyer today will see their home appreciate 5% in value over the course of 12 months, or $37,500. So, while waiting may have saved you $2,376 in annual mortgage payments, you missed out on all the appreciation. Today’s buyer can also refinance one year from now (at an estimated upfront fee of $4,000) to get to the lower monthly payment.
The final equation looks like this:
$37,500 appreciation gain
- $2,376 in extra monthly costs for the first year of the mortgage
- 4,000 in refinance costs
= $31,124 net benefit for buying now
Then there’s another scenario to consider: you wait 12 months, but interest rates don’t change. That means you missed out on one year of building home value, and perhaps most importantly, living in the home that you really want.
GROUPGIVES AWARDS
$62,500 IN ANNUAL COMMUNITY GRANTS
Our nonprofit GroupGives helps people get into and stay in their homes. The GroupGives Board recently convened to review grant applications and allocate funding.
We are proud to announce that a total of $62,500 was awarded to six impactful nonprofits working across Northern Colorado.
Grant recipients include:
• Stillwater Ranch – Supporting veterans and their families in Larimer and Weld counties by improving access to safe, stable housing.
• Qualified Listeners Corp –Providing financial assistance for essential home improvements through its Veteran Relief Fund.
• House of Neighborly Services –Funding critical repairs for Family Promise bridge houses to support families in transitional housing.
• A Little Help – Assisting older adults with home repairs to promote safety, stability, and independence.
• Project Self-Sufficiency –Offering direct cash assistance to participants for pressing household needs like rent and utilities.
• Be the Gift – Helping single mothers stay in their homes by resolving urgent home repair issues.
We are honored to partner with these nonprofits as they make lasting impacts in the lives of individuals and families throughout our communities.
HIGH COUNTRY HEADLINERS: A NEW LOOK FOR 2 ESTES PARK ICONS
Who is Estes Park’s most famous citizen? Most likely it’s a “what”, rather than a “who”. Because a solid case could be made for either the Stanley Hotel or Rocky Mountain National Park. And coincidentally, both the hotel and the park are in the news as the summer season gets started.
For the 117-year-old Stanley – home to both legend and luxury – the story centers on the transition to new ownership, and the changes in store for the landmark property. In May, a public-private group called the Stanley Partnership for Art, Culture and Education LLC, contracted to buy the Stanley complex, which includes the 140-room hotel and ancillary buildings on the 41-acre campus.
As planned, the new owners will expedite the development of the Stanley Film Center – which has been in the works since 2015 – add 65 rooms to the hotel, and build a 65,000-square-foot event center, which would house an 864-person capacity auditorium and a horror film museum.
The expansion plans come as the Stanley prepares for the 2027 arrival of the Sundance Film Festival to Boulder, when the Stanley Film Center is expected to serve as a hightraffic venue for the event.
Meanwhile, 110-year-old Rocky Mountain National Park has made improvements of its own that are timely for the annual summer crush of visitors to the Estes Valley. The park recently completed the new Fall River Entrance Station project – replacing a 60-yearold facility that had been overwhelmed by the massive growth in visitation to the park.
According to park officials, the old entrance station was designed at a time when the park drew approximately 1.5 million visitors each year – a number that has since grown to around 4.6 million. The new facility includes three new entrance kiosks, a wider road, and a dedicated transponder lane to help move traffic faster.
Both the Stanley and RMNP are economic pillars of Estes Park. Stanley management reports that the hotel generates about $44 million in revenue each year and serves as a major tourist draw in its own right. With its massive visitor numbers, tourism is the indisputable anchor for the local economy. A 2023 report said park visitors spent an estimated $569 million that year in the “gateway” regions around the park, which supported about 7,800 jobs and $342 million in worker income.
ABOUT THE STANLEY HOTEL
• Built in 1909 by F.O. Stanley, known as the inventor of the Stanley Steamer steam-powered motorcar.
• Listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
• Known as the inspiration for the horror novel “The Shining” by best-selling author Stephen King, who stayed at the Stanley in 1974.
• In addition to the main hotel, with 140 guest rooms, the Stanley complex includes ancillary buildings with apartment and condominium residences, as well as conference and event facilities spread across 19 acres.
ABOUT ROCKY MOUNTAIN NATIONAL PARK
• Established in 1915 by President Woodrow Wilson
• The park spans approximately 415 square miles, including parts of Larimer, Boulder, and Grand counties in Northern Colorado.
• The park attracts about 4.1 million visitors, with a record total of 4.6 million in 2019.
• Trail Ridge Road in RMNP is the highest continuous paved road in the United States, reaching 12,183 feet above sea level.
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ESTATE BY NUMBERS
396. Number of apartments that a developer wants to build on the site of the former Hewlett-Packard Co. plant in northwest Greeley. The HP Apartments are planned for a 20-acre site on the property, just north of Westridge Academy.
9.2%. Population growth for Erie between July 1, 2023, and July 1, 2024, according to the latest U.S. Census Bureau estimate released in May. Erie’s growth rate tops all Colorado cities and ranks No. 15 nationally for that time period.
675. Number of housing units proposed for a 183-acre development on the east side of Fort Lupton. The project would include 459 single-family homes and 216 apartment units.
$1.9 million. Sale price for an eight-unit multifamily building in northwest Longmont. The 54-year-old building, which includes two-bedroom units, is located at 3043 17th Ave.
$30.4 million. A recently closed Fort Collins skilled-nursing facility is facing foreclosure, just months after the business that occupied the building shut down. The property at 4880 Ziegler Road was formerly occupied by The Center at Rock Creek. The filing lists an outstanding principal balance of $30.4 million on an original $70 million loan.
$19.4 million. Total transaction value for a trade of two industrial buildings located in Loveland and Windsor. One party received a 100,000-square-foot building at 31815 Great Western Drive on the east side of Windsor, valued at $14.2 million, while the other party received a new 20,500-square-foot building at 3505 Draft Horse Court in east Loveland, valued at $5.2 million. 846. Number of bankruptcy filings in Colorado in April, up 8 percent over April compared to April 2024. However, the April increase was down from 14% in March and 20% in January and February. New business filings totaled 17 in April, from 11 in April 2024.
$3.5 million. Sale price of a vacant retail building at 2830 S. College Ave. The property, most recently used by a car dealership, was acquired by Vitamin Cottage Natural Food Market Inc.
297. Number of new apartments under construction at The Moraine, a six-building complex located in southwest Longmont near an existing Target store. The first of the new buildings is due to open for tenants in July.
$3 million. Sale price for a 114-acre parcel near Hudson, located near the intersection of Interstate 76 and Colorado Highway 52. Owners of the former Bandimere Speedway near Morrison are identified as the buyers of the property, located in unincorporated Weld County.
$98 million. Estimated investment for a proposed indoor recreation center in Timnath. Town voters would need to approve a 1.25% sales and use tax, which would be on the ballot in November, in order to fund the project. As planned, the 109,000-square-foot facility would include a swimming pool, gyms, fitness rooms, and community rooms.
28. Number of townhomes that a developer is proposing for the former Greeley Ice and Storage building, a 1930s-era building on Sixth Avenue near downtown Greeley.
$14.5 million. Sale price for a home on the north side of downtown Boulder, believed to be the most expensive residential sale in Boulder’s history. Located at 1505 Sunset Blvd., the five-bedroom home was purchased by the Dru A Schmitt Revocable Trust.
63 percent. Percentage of America’s major metropolitan areas (populations of 750,000 or more) that have seen a reduction in the rate of new apartment construction since March of 2023, according to a recent report by Redfin.
