Housing News Digest, October 12

State leaders brainstorm ways to create more affordable housing

VAIL - For the next few days, 600 state leaders will be in Vail discussing better ways to bring affordable housing to Colorado.

They're taking part in the 2011 Housing Colorado Now Conference where organizers say the number of homeless in Colorado are on the rise but one solution being developed comes from something ski areas have been doing for years.

Tiny ND town bans oil workers' 'man camps'

BISMARCK, N.D. (AP) — Concerned that a Colorado company appeared to be turning an old school building in the tiny town of Almont into dormitory-style housing for oil workers, city officials called a rare special meeting and banned such so-called man camps.

The ordinance passed Monday in Almont — a town of about 100 people 35 miles southwest of Bismarck — illustrates a growing tension in western North Dakota, where temporary housing has risen from the plains to accommodate a massive oil boom. Mountrail and Williams counties also recently put moratoriums on new crew camps.

Springs Rescue Mission Celebrates Its New Housing Facility
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo., Oct 12, 2011 (GlobeNewswire via COMTEX) -- Please join representatives of Springs Rescue Mission, American Bank of Commerce (ABC Bank), and the Federal Home Loan Bank of Dallas (FHLB Dallas) as they kickoff the renovations of a vacant liquor store for a new transitional living dormitory for homeless men in the Springs Rescue Mission's New Life Program.


White House looks to speed up Denver housing project renovation
DENVER -- As the White House saw its American Jobs Act stall in the Senate Tuesday night, the administration announced that 14 infrastructure projects are being expedited as part of a job growth plan, including one project in Denver.

The Mariposa Housing Project in south Denver is in need of renovations, which may be sped up as part of a White House initiative aimed at creating jobs and streamlining the federal government's permitting and review process.

Construction begins on senior housing
LAFAYETTE - Boulder County officials broke ground Monday on a housing development in Lafayette that will have 74 apartments for senior citizens and 79 houses for seniors and families.

Josephine Commons will be built on a 14.4-acre site near the corner of Dounce Street and Brooks Avenue.

The apartment project is the first phase. It will include a number of environmentally friendly features, such as solar panels, geothermal heating and cooling and Energy Star appliances. It will be the equivalent of a LEED Silver building, according to the county.