City, chamber propose workforce housing on former Slade school site; trustees raise fiscal and governance questions

Todd Feazer, assistant city manager for the City of Laramie, presented a concept to the Albany County School District #1 Board of Trustees to redevelop the former Slade school site into owner-occupied, deed-restricted workforce housing during the board's February work session.

Feazer said the site comprises about 3.22 acres with roughly 141,000 square feet and is presently platted for 17 residential lots under R-2 zoning; he described a preferred development concept of twin homes (two units per lot) arranged with rear access from an alley. "The vision is rear load off an alleyway, twin homes," Feazer said, describing 1,300- to 1,500-square-foot units targeted at employees of participating organizations.

Project concept and partners: Feazer described a public-private partnership model that could include Albany County School District #1, the City of Laramie, the Laramie Chamber Business Alliance (LCBA), Ivinson Memorial Hospital and Workforce Innovation organizations. The project team's stated goals are to create 34 attainable, owner-occupied homes for households earning roughly 80% to 120% of area median income (AMI), to pilot a replicable model and to provide staff housing to help recruitment and…