Boulder study proposes up-to-$15 per sq. ft. fee on large demolitions, additions to fund affordable housing

Solon Walbert, the City of Boulder's Inclusionary Housing Program manager, and consultant Andrew Rochford on Feb. 26 presented a nexus analysis that recommends a square-foot impact fee on large home demolitions and additions to help pay for affordable housing.

The report, commissioned by the city and prepared by Bruin and Associates (with presentation support from Sullivan's consultant team), quantifies links between teardown/expansion projects and additional local demand for workforce housing and estimates the capital subsidy needed to make a typical affordable unit viable in Boulder.

Walbert said the city's Inclusionary Housing Program currently requires new developments to make 25% of units permanently affordable or pay a cash-in-lieu contribution; single-family projects and demolitions of four units or fewer that replace a unit within three years are typically waived. "This is sort of the gap we're trying to fill through this study," he said, describing how many smaller projects escape the inclusionary…