Greeley City hears progress report on five-year Housing for All strategic plan

GREELEY, Colo. — Consultants updating Greeley City Council on a five-year Housing for All strategic plan said the city needs a coordinated approach — including a master developer model, new financing tools and close alignment with economic development — to produce housing for starter, workforce, market-rate and executive segments.

“Specifically, my name is Steve Hanmer with Breakthrough Leadership Consulting, and we are joined by Peter Chapman of Urban Policy and Innovations,” Hanmer told the council as he opened the March presentation. “We are appreciating this vision for growth and prosperity and to be able to join in partnership with you.”

Consultants presented four “keys” for the strategy: using a master developer approach for large sites; linking housing and economic development; creating financing strategies tailored to city goals; and ensuring organizational capacity to implement the plan. Peter Chapman highlighted financing tools already used nationally and regionally, including the low-income housing tax credit (the competitive 9% and noncompetitive 4% programs), tax increment financing and community development block grants.

The consultants described a “master developer” entity as a public or quasi‑public development authority that could aggregate land and direct infrastructure, design standards and public/private investment on catalytic sites the consultants identified for scale: downtown, West Greeley and the airport. Chapman said the master developer model is most appropriate where large, complex sites require coordinated entitlement, infrastructure and phased delivery.

Council members asked detailed implementation questions. Councilor Halkley asked about developer reception; Hanmer said roundtables in December produced “great engagement” and “a general eagerness to partner with the city.” Councilor Olson asked about Habitat for Humanity pricing and the effect of Colorado’s construction-defect laws on condominium development; consultants and staff said the law has made insurance and financing for for-sale condos more difficult statewide and that some legislative fixes are being pursued. Councilor Valcourt asked whether the city could pair land and water banking with an affordable housing trust fund; consultants described dedicated, recurring revenue sources and inclusionary zoning opt-outs as standard ways to sustain trust funds.

Consultants also noted organizational and market-readiness work already under way: interviews with stakeholders, a landscape analysis, an equity assessment done in December, roundtables and a planned “summit” in late April to bring developers, financers, employers and community partners together. Staff said the city will pursue further design of a private activity bond allocation process to support 4% tax-credit deals and will return with a proposed competitive process for bond allocation.

Why it matters: Greeley officials framed the plan as an effort to manage and direct rapid growth while producing housing across multiple price points — from starter homes to executive housing — so that workers at a range of incomes can live in the city as employment and amenities expand.

The meeting did not produce a formal council vote on the plan. Staff and the consultants left the council with a request for continued engagement; the consultants will return for two‑by‑two briefings and the late‑April summit to refine final recommendations and next steps.

Council members signaled support for continuing the process and for closer alignment of the strategic plan with the city’s affordable housing code rewrite and private-activity bond work. The consultants said they will include case studies (Central Park/Lowry/Green Valley Ranch) and financing options in their final report.