The horses are out, and the hard hats are in at Aurora's former Horse Boarding Stables on Exposition Avenue, where city leaders gathered Thursday to break ground on a new affordable housing community. The long-running equestrian site is being remade into an intergenerational development that officials say will bring much-needed subsidized rentals to the southeast metro.
The ceremonial kickoff, documented by 9News, featured elected officials and development partners touting the project as part of Aurora's broader push to grow its affordable housing stock.
Project Details And Funding
The development, dubbed "The Stables" by its builder Grovewood Community Development, will sit on a roughly 4.79-acre infill parcel and is planned for about 134 affordable apartments built in two phases. Grovewood Community Development reports that Phase I is expected to deliver about 85 family units and Phase II roughly 49 senior units.
According to Grovewood, the deal is stitched together with a familiar mix of local and state subsidies: city CDBG/HOME/PAB dollars, Arapahoe County grants, 4% low-income housing tax credits, and money from Colorado's voter-approved Proposition 123 fund.
How Proposition 123 Helps
Proposition 123, approved by statewide voters, created a dedicated affordable housing fund that offers grants and loans for projects like The Stables. The program is administered by the state's Department of Local Affairs, and DOLA outlines how the money flows from the state to local developments.
Those dollars are already at work in Arapahoe County, where local officials are using Prop 123 money to support housing stability services and related programs, as reported by Colorado Politics.
Neighborhood Impact
The Stables site sits next to Exposition Regional Park and Highline Community Elementary School, putting new affordable homes within easy reach of both green space and classrooms. Grovewood says that the combination is meant to support families and older adults alike by keeping daily needs close to home.
Grovewood Community Development also highlights design touches meant to nod to the property's past life, including walking trails, community gardens, and indoor gathering spaces that echo its equestrian roots. The project fits into Aurora's strategy to stretch local housing dollars through public-private partnerships, a push spotlighted in earlier coverage of Aurora's $30 million housing fund, as per Hoodline.
Next Steps
With the ceremonial shovels in the ground, officials say the next few weeks will focus on permitting and site work before full-scale construction ramps up. The groundbreaking was again captured by 9News, which recorded remarks from city and development leaders on what the completed complex could mean for local renters.
Project materials indicate the two-phase buildout could reach occupancy by 2027, turning a one-time horse property into a full-fledged affordable community.
