New project in Eagle Ranch bringing workforce housing without government subsidies

Brad and Jesse Hagedorn have been working quietly in the valley’s workforce housing market. The brothers’ firm, Mountain Valley Homes, this summer will start a new condo project in Eagle Ranch.

The new building, 1200 Capitol Street, will feature eight studio units and eight two-bedroom units, along with retail space on the ground floor. The attraction of the free-market units is the price. The “efficiency” condos — about 350 square feet each — start at $399,000. The two-bedroom units, about 700 square feet each, start at $599,000.

According to the Hagedorns, four of the units are already under contract.

The units will be all-electric, and will be heated and cooled via a high-tech type of heat pump known as a “VFR” unit, which can shift warm and cool air between units without turning on the heating or cooling units. Brad Hagedorn said when the sun heats a south-facing unit in the winter, that warm air can be shifted to a cooler north-facing unit. Conversely, cool air from that south-facing unit can be shifted to a sun-facing north-facing unit in the summer.

Brad Hagedorn noted that his family’s firm, Mountain Valley Homes, has built more than 100 workforce housing units in Eagle and Gypsum over the past several years, with 42 units at Eagle Landing, and will have built nearly 70 new homes at Gypsum’s Buckhorn Valley neighborhood by the end of this year.

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While these are smaller homes, local architect Michael Hazard, long a volunteer member of the Eagle County Housing Task Force, said, “We need more little units,” adding that many people tend to live in more square footage than they need.

Smaller homes can be more affordable, of course, but Brad Hagedorn said many buyers are also taking advantage of local deed restriction programs to make those homes even more affordable. Many of the Buckhorn Valley buyers have used Eagle County’s Good Deeds program, with some buyers at Eagle Landing taking advantage of the town of Eagle’s Local Employee Residency Program.

Jesse Hagedorn said buyers at 1200 Capitol can also take advantage of the Eagle Ranch Housing Corp.’s deed-restriction program.

Eagle County Housing Department Director Kim Bell Williams said the Good Deeds program can make homes affordable to more people since, “A full spectrum of housing needs is happening everywhere in the valley.”

For those able to buy without deed restrictions, though, Hazard said buyers will be able to take advantage of market appreciation.

The 1200 Capitol project is one of the last that will be built in the core of Eagle Ranch, something Jesse Hagedorn called “intelligent density,” since it’s within walking distance of the shops and restaurants in the commercial core.

And, he added, “This will really put a capstone on the Capitol Street streetscape.”