Silverton has fulfilled Colorado's Proposition 123 affordable housing commitment — becoming the first jurisdiction in the state to do so.
"I think this is very exciting, right?” asked Department of Local Affairs Executive Director Maria De Cambra. “I think this shows that local governments are ready and they are very committed to getting more affordable housing units on the ground."
The Proposition was approved by voters in 2022 and created the state’s first dedicated funding stream for affordable housing. In its first year, $300 million was allocated from the state’s General Fund to fuel programs that help reduce the state’s housing shortage and make homes more affordable. Forty percent of the annual allocation goes to the Department of Local Affairs (DOLA) and 60% percent goes to the Office of Economic Development.
In Silverton’s case, the town was awarded $616,000 from DOLA to support construction of the 10 affordable housing units. The full project budget is about $4.5 million, with the town continuing to assemble grants and gap funding to complete it. The town was also awarded $85,000 in 2024, which helped to hire a new housing director position.
All together, these dollars helped the town meet its Proposition 123 housing goals ahead of schedule, a feat that earned them an additional $50,000. That money will support a portion of the salary of the town’s housing director through fall 2027.
But — in a mountain community where the rental vacancy rate hovers near zero and second homes sit empty for much of the year— local leaders say the 10 new homes are just the beginning of solving a much larger problem.
“We’re really proud of the progress that we’ve made,” said Anne Chase, director of the Silverton Housing Authority and the town’s housing director. “But we haven’t made it into the clear yet.”
Under Proposition 123, communities that opt in must increase their affordable housing supply by three percent annually for three years. Silverton rounded up its commitment to 10% after calculating it needed 10 new affordable homes by the end of 2026.
Those homes — located in the Anvil Mountain subdivision on the southeast edge of town — are coming online this spring. Families will have a March move-in, more than a year ahead of schedule.
For a town of roughly 700 residents, that is a significant boost.
“These 10 new homes are really exciting,” Chase said. “It represents substantial improvements in access to affordable housing in our town and it will free up some existing rental spaces when people move in.”
But even as buyers prepare to move, the broader math remains daunting. Something the state says it’s aware of.
“In 2019, [Colorado] had a unit shortage of 140,000 homes,” said De Cambra. “As of 2023, that had dropped to 106,000. We’ve made progress — but we still need to build 34,000 homes a year for the next decade to keep that gap from widening.”
Four of the modular homes are already under contract. Buyers include a family that has rented in Silverton for 25 years, workers in hospitality, a local government employee and a ski area worker. Five units remain available.
Most of the two-to three-bedroom homes are priced between $245,000 and $375,000, depending on income and size. One higher-priced unit at $540,000 helps cross-subsidize the others.
Those prices are well below much of Silverton’s current market, where homes — many more than a century old — often list at $550,000 or much higher and require major repairs.
“These are homes that don't have insulation, that don't have foundations, that need a ton of work,” said Chase. “So we're really excited to be offering brand new turnkey, energy-efficient homes to folks.”
The new units are energy-efficient and come with affordability covenants limiting appreciation to one percent annually.
But they are homeownership units — not rentals.
And that’s where Silverton’s biggest challenge remains.
The rental gap
Employers report being chronically understaffed because workers can’t find housing. In the summer, the population swells to more than 1,000 people as second homeowners return and tourism peaks. In the winter, many of those homes sit vacant and unavailable for rent.
"Just a few years ago, 90% of workers in our rural resort towns were having to commute to get to their place of business because they did not have housing that is affordable," said De Cambra.
Chase agrees. “It’s a combination of issues,” she said of housing pressures like workforce displacement, seasonal demand and second-home competition.
While Prop 123 helped fund both construction gap financing and the housing director position in Silverton, the town still struggles to expand its rental supply.
Small-scale rental projects — six or a dozen units — are difficult to finance. The traditional low-income housing tax credit model typically supports projects with 100 units or more, which doesn’t fit in a town like Silverton.
The town is exploring a partnership with a local developer to build six rental units, but Chase said funding remains uncertain.
A win nonetheless
Despite knowing the remaining challenges, Chase credits administrative funding from Prop 123 with making the Anvil project possible. The town used planning capacity grants to create and hire her position and gap funding to reduce construction costs.
“I think I could speak for all small and rural towns in Colorado — capacity is the linchpin,” she said.
"The local planning capacity grant is critical, especially for rural jurisdictions because they traditionally don't have the resources or the staffing to be able to focus on affordable housing," said De Cambra. "So now because of this grant, because of Prop 123, they're able to hire consultants or dedicated planners and to bring in the expertise and actually be able to focus on this and be able to build more housing that is affordable."
But that funding is not always permanent. Chase’s position, for example, is currently only funded through the end of 2027. The town hopes to reapply for state planning grants or build a local funding partnership to sustain the work.
Without that administrative capacity, she says, future housing efforts could stall.
For now, Silverton can point to something tangible: foundations poured, modular homes set, families preparing to move in.
It’s a meaningful milestone for a town that has long struggled with housing instability.
And it’s not alone. DOLA officials confirmed several other Colorado jurisdictions are close to meeting their Proposition 123 housing commitments this year.
Arvada alone has created 441 affordable housing units toward its target, while Ouray has added 23 units. It joined Ridgway this month in becoming fully compliant alongside Silverton.
The state says the growing number of communities nearing compliance signals broader momentum behind the statewide effort to expand affordable housing.
“Knowing that we have 217 total jurisdictions that have opted in, 92 that are a year ahead of schedule and that all combined means that close to 23,000 new affordable units are going to be coming to our state,” De Cambra said.
Still, in places like Silverton where workforce shortages persist, rentals remain scarce and seasonal demand distorts the market, 10 homes are a partial solution — not a cure. “We’re excited to be the first to meet this state goal,” Chase said. “But there is still so much more work to be done.”
Editor's Note: This story has been updated for quote clarity and to reflect the correct spelling of Maria De Cambra's name.
