COLORADO SPRINGS — After fifteen years of envisioning an affordable housing development, three nonprofit organizations, alongside community members, have successfully commenced the expansion of Bentley Commons.

Bringing affordable housing into the southeast side of Colorado Springs could not be done alone. This development came to life thanks to the collaboration between Greccio Housing, Partners in Housing, and the Rocky Mountain Community Land Trust.

“GPR Properties, the development entity of this project, consists of Greccio Housing, Partners in Housing, and the Rocky Mountain Community Land Trust,” Executive Director of Greccio Housing, Lee Patke said. “Together, we provide transitional housing, affordable rentals, and affordable homeownership opportunities.”

The idea originated in 2009 and over 15 years, the three collaborated to obtain and convert this property into affordable housing.

“Since that time, we’ve planned, we’ve envisioned and we imagined what could be possible here with the three strong local nonprofits,” Patke said. “Today, we’re presenting a groundbreaking to the community that will represent 192 units of new affordable housing.”

Currently, there are two existing buildings on the property, but this expansion will bring six new buildings offering a wide variety of units to meet the needs of the community.

“Among the 192 units, got a great mix of one-, two- and three-bedroom units,” Patke said. “Three-bedrooms are really scarce in our community for rentals and the community has driven hard to try to increase that and we’re thrilled to have 27 of those units here on this property.”

As the Pikes Peak Region becomes home to more people, the price tag on complexes can be a shock. The need for budget-friendly housing is top of mind for GPR Properties in bringing both affordable rentals and homeownership opportunities to the city.

“Well, the entire community needs affordable housing, and everyone needs an opportunity to live where they work and serve this community,” Patke said. “Southeast Colorado Springs, especially in the last few years, has been a boom for new industry, new jobs, and fortunately, we’ve been able to add new housing to that mix as well.”

At the ceremony, there was an outpour of support from the community including Mayor Yemi Mobolade along with district representatives, and members of Harrison School District 2 (HSD2).

Amidst the energetic crowd at this groundbreaking event stood Brenda King, who is the newest board member of the Rocky Mountain Community Land Trust. With her own personal journey of finding a permanent and affordable place to call home, her story exemplifies the widespread demand for more accessible housing within the city.

I’ve been there, done that,” King said. “Luckily, I’m just a lucky person and blessed that Rocky Mountain Community Land Trust helped me buy my first home in September, and so they needed board members and I was like, I can volunteer an hour out of my life once a month to help support and keep up with what’s going on in the community housing-wise.”

Although she has now secured a place to call home, she remains hopeful that others facing similar circumstances will discover the extensive support network available within the city.

“The places are out there, they’re out there, they will help you go find Greccio Housing, come out to Rocky Mountain Community Land Trust offices, over off of Colorado Boulevard and Partners in Housing,” said King.

In looking out on the development, King said, “Hopefully others can follow in my footsteps and provide some support to somebody else that needs support.”

Also in attendance was Erika Tunson, the principal at nearby Monterey Elementary School; she emphasized the profound impact this development will have, not only in enhancing students’ lives but also in providing housing for teachers.

“We serve a school right up the street that has a lot of families that struggle to maintain permanent housing,” Tunson said. “It’s so important in the education of children to have a stable school, a stable home life to be successful. So having this housing here provides that, provides a stable home so that they can go to a school and be in a stable position, stay in school, they’re not transferring schools. It’s so important to the community, to Colorado Springs, to have a well-educated population.”

For over twenty years, Tunson has worked in the district seeing firsthand the city’s expansion and the increasing demand for affordable housing, particularly when recruiting new faculty.

“This would be an amazing benefit to teachers,” Tunson said. “We so often lose or don’t get the best and the brightest because they simply can’t afford to live here, not because they’re not passionate about our students and about this city and this district, but because they themselves cannot live here.”

Even though this development is done by GPR Properties, Patke said Greccio Housing will manage the property. As the property is still a year and a half away from completion, there is currently no established waitlist. However, Patke advised visiting their website for information on other options within the community and to stay informed on updates.

“Everything looking good so far, everything looks good,” Patke said. “Palace construction is our GC, they broke ground the second week of January and you already see all the work that’s done, we are on track for an early summer opening of 2025.”

While the ground awaits the construction of these new buildings, an uplifting message is already in the air, signaling that this development is just the first step of many toward a brighter future in the southeast side of Colorado Springs.

“This has been so long overdue,” Tunson said. “It is such a great way to promote the wonderful Southeast. It’s just a great community and it’s nice to say, ‘Hey, look what we have, we have this great place for you to live and work in a great community.'”