Timber Ridge now home to first Habitat owners in Vail
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Habitat for Humanity Vail Valley’s first two Timber Ridge homeowners closed on their new Vail homes this week.
Habitat officials, in a press release, stated the Timber Ridge project will allow more of Eagle County’s critical workforce to thrive at home in Vail.
Carly (last name withheld at her request) was born in Vail and raised in the Eagle River Valley but didn’t think homeownership was in her future, despite working a full-time job.
“My daughter is my best friend, and she is my purpose. We were both born and raised in the Vail Valley, and we love to call this place our home,” Carly said. “Her success in this life is also my success, and I would do anything to ensure her happiness.”
Habitat has long worked with hardworking locals who earn up to 80% of the area median income (AMI) — that’s $74,400 for a single person and up to $106,560 for a family of four. Median home prices are well over $1 million, so it’s not hard to see why homes are out of reach for so many in the local workforce.
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“It has become harder to put down roots and stay in this community. It used to be that people could work here and that would afford them the opportunity to purchase a starter home. Today we are lacking that entry-level housing stock in our market,” said Emily Peyton, Habitat’s vice president of operations.
The nuts and bolts
The town of Vail, Housing Eagle County, Triumph Development and Habitat Vail Valley in early 2024 inked a deal to bring workforce housing to Vail. Of the 302 homes being built as part of the Timber Ridge Phase II redevelopment, 30 are available for Habitat homeowners.
This partnership is Habitat Vail Valley’s pilot mortgage lending program. The investment by the town of Vail, Eagle County and FirstBank allows Habitat to issue zero-interest mortgages affordable to qualified buyers earning under 80% of the AMI.
Habitat self-financed two- and three-bedroom homes at Timber Ridge for purchase by qualified buyers. To do so, however, Habitat collaborated with the town and the county, both of which will act as buy-down partners, helping fill the funding gap between the actual cost to build the homes and affordability.
“The availability and affordability of both rental and homeownership remains the most critical issue facing the Eagle River Valley. We must build out the housing continuum that supports economic and social mobility,” said Elyse Howard, Habitat’s vice president of community affairs and philanthropy.
Habitat Vail Valley is in year two of its four-year strategic plan to build to 200 — building up to 80 additional homes by the end of 2028.
“It is amazing to see what Habitat is doing for the Vail Valley, especially from my perspective as someone who was born and raised her and understands the housing crisis,” new homeowner Carly said.
Later this month, Habitat homeowners will move into eight homes at Stratton Flats in Gypsum.
