鈥� Work has finally begun on Boulder Housing Partners鈥� long-awaited Alpine-Balsam project in north Boulder, even though flood-mitigation work is first on the agenda before any buildings can rise on the 8.8-acre site.
City officials, city council members and others involved in the project participated Dec. 17 in a ceremonial groundbreaking at the site of the former Boulder Community Health hospital, which was purchased by the city in 2015 for about $40 million and largely demolished in 2022.
The city spent about $16 million on the 鈥渟ustainable deconstruction鈥� project along North Broadway, which included repurposing some of the building materials, and city officials have estimated that another approximately $40 million in capital investment will be needed along with $100 million in issuance of debt.
The flood-mitigation project, which is likely to start in earnest in January, will remove properties from what the Federal Emergency Management Agency deems a high-hazard 100-year flood plain and will include extensive landscaping, an improved bicycle lane, enhanced pedestrian crossings, a plaza and pedestrian walkway improvements, along with underground utility work. FEMA will need to make a final determination that the flood risks have been mitigated, but some construction of the municipal campus can start at the same time. Dubbed the 鈥淲estern City Campus,鈥� the building designed by Denver-based ZGF Architects will unite various city services and offices under one roof, and estimated completion is scheduled for 2027.
Next will come 217 new affordable and market-rate homes in a range of housing types. According to designs from Coburn Development, the three- and four-story units will include wood-look siding, red bricks and black metal awnings, and some units will have pitched roofs that resemble those of homes in the nearby Newlands subdivision.
The plan calls for 157 apartments deed-restricted to be 鈥減ermanently affordable鈥� and 60 market-rate units, along with new commercial space. That construction is expected to start by late 2026.
Boulder Housing Partners, Boulder鈥檚 housing authority, will oversee the development of the affordable housing units at 1100 Balsam Ave. and 1155 Alpine Ave. as part of an intergovernmental agreement approved by the Boulder City Council in late 2021.
In October, the council approved a code to steer the project鈥檚 design, with guidelines for aesthetics, building size and placement. It also changed the planned location of a 鈥渕obility hub鈥� from 10th Street and Alpine Avenue to the east side of the new 10th Street roadway in the Alpine-Balsam Area Plan connections plan. That hub could include scooter corrals, repair areas and a B-Cycle station.
It also approved a private-access connection on 11th Street between Alpine and Balsam, and changed the city鈥檚 land-use code to make affordable units funded by the Low-Income Housing Tax Credit exempt from a requirement that parking be unbundled from other costs.
鈥淲e鈥檙e interested in seeing the character of infill development and a diversity of workforce housing as well as complementary business and business services,鈥� Boulder Chamber president John Tayer said after the agreement was signed.
Feedback that the city received from affected property owners in an online questionnaire was generally favorable. Respondents liked the mix of uses, the pedestrian-centric emphasis, gathering space, green spaces, connections to transit and bicycle routes, and the mixed price points for housing, with a significant portion being classified as affordable.
Most of the concerns centered around high-density housing, limited new parking that could cause overflow into surrounding neighborhoods, building designs perceived as boxy and unattractive, an influx of people into North Boulder Park, and building heights of more than 35 feet that could impact views of the Flatirons.
Boulder city planner Jay Sugnet said much of those concerns were addressed through revisions to the plan, including scrapping the original vision of five-story buildings.
鈥淔or the most part, the plan represents compromises aimed at trying to achieve a lot of goals,鈥� Sugnet said. 鈥淣ow we have three- and four-story buildings along Alpine and at the corner of Balsam and Broadway, but tapering down to three stories to the west toward North Boulder Park and to the north toward that neighborhood.
As for vehicular traffic, he said, 鈥渁 lot of transportation-demand strategies can be employed. This development is on one of our most highest-frequency transit lines and bike routes, and we have the existing parking structure from the hospital that we could use to alleviate some of the neighbor concerns.鈥�
Tayer said he was confident that BHP will produce a quality development.
鈥淏oulder Housing Partners do great work in our community,鈥� he said. 鈥淲e look forward to seeing them develop the Broadway site with healthy diversity, from housing to the associated businesses.鈥�
Dallas Heltzell is a reporter with BizWest and affiliate publication Breaking Ground. His work appears frequently online at . Contact Dallas at dheltzell@bizwest.com
