On a patch of southeast Aurora where horses once napped in paddocks, crews are now gearing up to pour foundations. Grovewood Community Development has broken ground on The Stables, an intergenerational affordable housing community planned for the former Aurora Horse Boarding Stables site at 10850 E. Exposition Ave. The 4.79-acre redevelopment will transform the old equestrian grounds into more than 130 rent-restricted homes for families and older residents, with early construction activity slated to ramp up this winter. Developers say the compact neighborhood will tuck walking trails, community gardens, and indoor gathering spaces into a site that already sits near existing parks and schools.
From Stables To Homes
According to Grovewood Community Development, The Stables is designed as a two-phase, intergenerational project on the infill parcel. Phase I is set to deliver 85 family apartments, with a later phase adding senior units that bring the total unit count to roughly 134. The project website outlines construction and occupancy dates and notes that the site was rezoned in 2024 to clear the way for the redevelopment. Plans call for one-, two-, and three-bedroom apartments, with resident services shaped by outreach to prospective tenants so the on-site programming reflects what future residents say they actually need.
Funding And Partners
At the ceremonial groundbreaking, city officials and development partners pointed to a complicated public-private financing stack that had to come together before a single shovel could hit the ground. Mile High CRE reports that funding for The Stables is coming from the City of Aurora, Arapahoe County, the Colorado Division of Housing, CHFA, Impact Development Fund, The Recovery Foundation, ANB Bank, The Richman Group, Sugar Creek Capital, and the Aurora Housing Authority. CHFA provided an allocation of both federal and state housing tax credits, a key ingredient for keeping rents below market.
Why This Matters
Developers are pitching the project as one small but concrete answer to a stubborn affordability squeeze. A Common Sense Institute Colorado analysis finds the cost of buying a home in Aurora is at its lowest point in more than 20 years, a paradox the report ties to rising prices and mortgage rates pushing ownership further out of reach. Per Grovewood Community Development, The Stables will serve households earning between 30% and 80% of the area median income, with an average income near 56% AMI. That translates to rent-restricted apartments located within easy reach of parks, schools, and neighborhood trails rather than at the edge of town.
Construction Timeline
Project materials list Calcon Constructors as the general contractor and Shopworks Architecture as the architect, with site work beginning after the ceremonial groundbreaking and initial occupancy targeted for 2027. Mile High CRE notes that Phase I will bring the family apartments online first, with the senior phase following to complete the intergenerational mix that defines the concept.
With shovels now officially in the dirt, the next chapter is less about speeches and more about logistics: final permitting, finishing demolition of remaining outbuildings, and moving into vertical construction. Officials say resident services and on-site programming will come in waves as buildings open. The Stables joins a growing roster of Prop 123 and tax credit-backed developments in south metro Denver that are trying to keep at least some housing attainable in neighborhoods where prices have been galloping ahead of local incomes.
