Dozens of affordable housing units are on the drawing board, but Ketchum first has to determine how the housing should mix in with retail space and market-rate units to help make them economically viable.
The Ketchum Urban Renewal Agency hired Ketchum-based Living Architecture to conduct analyses of three city-owned properties for affordable housing projects.
The City Council is the acting URA's board of directors. Dale Bates, founder of Living Architecture, made a presentation Tuesday, Jan. 16, to council members in their City Council capacity because the city owns the land.
According to Idaho law, cities can give land to urban renewal agencies, and that is what will likely happen with the land at Sixth and Leadville, Second Street and Washington Avenue and the north end of the Park & Ride lot on Saddle Road.
Bates presented scenarios of mixed-use buildings with varying mixes of market-rate and affordable housing units.
The location on Washington Avenue presented some complexities due to parking that is used by downtown shoppers. With more residential units comes more demand for parking. Also, a bigger building could take up spaces used by downtown visitors.
"It comes down to how much parking you want to supply," Bates said.
Underground parking is a possibility but would add significantly to the cost of the project, even if some of the expenses were recouped by charging for spaces. On the other hand, underground parking would free up space above ground for other uses.
"While housing is our main goal ... the way this project is viable is to go underground," said Michael Carpenter, with the Community Development Corporation's affordable housing committee.
Mayor Randy Hall was loathe to continue subsidizing parking for area businesses if it infringed on other city goals like affordable housing.
"That's going to be the debate we'll have to have," he said.
Bates suggested a bond issue to create more parking spaces. That would determine how strongly Ketchum residents feel about parking.
The Washington Avenue site could accommodate anywhere from 36 to 65 units, although the latter would require purchase of development rights from another property.
Bates' proposal for Saddle Road intrigued some council members because it included an elevated walking promenade.
A two-story condo project could be built on a platform, thereby keeping the large ground-level parking lot for YMCA visitors and condo residents.
That scenario would be cheaper than underground parking, Bates said.
"It's next to the YMCA, so it would be totally in scale," he added.
If elevated, the project could create between 72 and 95 residential units, many of which could be larger, two- and three-bedroom units.
"This is the place to build this kind of density," Bates said.
The Saddle Road project will not be the first to move ahead because the Wood River Community YMCA is being built on that lot. A consignment shop has a lease on the building at Second and Washington. A parking lot is the only thing taking up space on the Leadville land.
Even if the city soon makes a decision about the Washington and Leadville sites, the projects would have to go through the approval process, including design review.
"I think it's safe to say one way or another, both projects are going to start moving," Hall said.
Bates said he envisions projects to have studios no less that 600-square-feet, one-bedroom units no less than 800-square-feet, two-bedroom units no less than 950-square-feet and three-bedroom units approximately 1,1150 square feet.
The idea is to have URA affordable housing projects be self-perpetuating through the sale of market-rate units. Money made from those would be rolled over into new projects.
The URA will discuss the analyses at a future meeting.
City-owned land at Sixth and Leadville could be the site of an affordable housing project in Ketchum. The project would be made economically viable by including market-rate units. The city and the Ketchum Urban Renewal Agency are studying plans for that and other sites around town. Photo by David N. Seelig
