Eagle County commits $5.75 million to make Timber Ridge units more affordable for county’s lowest earners
Contribution will buy down 15 units in partnership with Habitat for Humanity to sell to community members earning 35-80% of area median income
Chris Dillmann/Vail Daily
Eagle County has committed $5.75 million in a partnership with Habitat for Humanity Vail Valley to further reduce the cost of 15 affordable housing units in Vail.
The 15 Timber Ridge Village units will be available for purchase by community members earning between 35 and 80% of Eagle County’s area median income.
The Eagle County Board of Commissioners, as the Eagle County Housing and Development Authority, approved the funding agreement during its meeting Tuesday morning.
“We’re not creating complexities in housing. They exist,” said Commissioner Matt Scherr. “What we have is tremendous collaboration — in this case, particularly, town of Vail, Habitat for Humanity and our incredible housing team — who are solving those complexities in order to get housing done.”
The partnership marks the first time the housing authority has had “a significant number of deed restricted units in Vail,” said Kim Bell Williams, the county’s housing director.
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In addition to the 15 units supported by the county, the town of Vail is providing $5 million to buy down a total of 30 Habitat for Humanity units in Timber Ridge Village. “That’s a huge victory for all of us in the housing world,” Bell Williams said.
The Timber Ridge Village redevelopment, located on the north side of Interstate 70, is a partnership between the town of Vail and Triumph Development. The project will provide 302 for-sale units, ranging from studios to four-bedroom apartments, all subject to resident-occupied deed restrictions.
Construction is ongoing, but the development’s first residents moved in this winter.
The county started the conversation with Habitat for Humanity about contributing funds to lower the cost for some Timber Ridge units in late 2024. At the time, the Eagle County Housing and Development Authority committed $2 million to partner with Habitat for Humanity and the town of Vail to reduce the purchase price of 10 three-bedroom units at Timber Ridge Village. (Vail also contributed $2 million at the time.)
The conversation resumed with the county in July, and again in the fall, with a request for more funding to support more Habitat for Humanity units with the lower area median income cap.
The county’s $5.75 million contribution is the largest per-unit commitment the county has made to affordable housing, driven by the desire to provide more units in Vail accessible to those earning in the county’s lower area median income tiers.
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All Habitat for Humanity units at Timber Ridge Village will be priced for purchase by those earning between 35 and 80% of Eagle County’s area median income through Habitat’s conventional selection process and will have a 0% interest mortgage. A two-person household earning 80% of Eagle County’s area median income in 2025 makes about $85,000 per year. At 50% area median income, that drops to $53,000.
“This is … below Eagle County’s own homeownership policy for income,” said Tori Franks, the county’s resiliency director.
The county primarily targets households earning 100% or less of the area median income with its own homeownership assistance programs.
The 15 Timber Ridge units the county is supporting are a mix of two-bedroom, two-bathroom and three-bedroom, two-bathroom units. The listed purchase prices range from $675,000 to $875,000 per unit. While the county’s exact per-unit contribution will not be set until the buyer and sale date are determined, current estimates show the county will provide between $240,000 and $470,000 per unit in buy-down support.
According to Bell Williams, the first 10 Timber Ridge units are set to close before June 1, with closings beginning as soon as Tuesday afternoon.
