Littleton is cutting a seven-figure check to keep some of its most affordable homes from slipping into disrepair. This month, the City Council voted to commit $1 million from its Affordable Housing Fund to Grovewood Community Development so the nonprofit can renovate three rent-restricted apartment complexes that together hold 64 units. The aim is to modernize aging systems, add accessibility upgrades and keep current residents in the fold, with construction expected to kick off in September. Grovewood says tenants will be temporarily relocated during the work and will keep paying their usual rent while the upgrades are underway. City officials are pitching the move as a long-term preservation play to keep those apartments affordable instead of watching them age out of the market.
The $1,000,000 commitment comes out of Littleton's Affordable Housing Fund, according to Littleton Independent. That fund is built from fee-in-lieu payments made by housing developers under the city's 2022 inclusionary housing ordinance and had about $1.7 million available at the time of the vote. City staff told the paper they expect roughly $800,000 to flow into the fund later this year, which helped clear the way for the council to sign off on the $1 million allocation.
Progress Park bundle and county backing
The local cash is one piece of a larger preservation effort branded as the "Progress Park Bundle," which groups the Lara Lea, Fox Street and Regal apartments into a single rehabilitation package. An Arapahoe County Board Summary Report puts the total unit count at 64 - 36 at Lara Lea, 16 at Fox Street and 12 at Regal - and recommends support through Private Activity Bonds. The county document also notes that tenants will be temporarily relocated while construction is underway, with units renovated and then returned to rent-restricted use, as outlined by Arapahoe County.
Who is Grovewood
Grovewood Community Development is a nonprofit community housing organization that owns and manages the three Littleton properties as part of a larger portfolio of deed-restricted communities around the region. Its own materials list Lara Lea, Fox Street and Regal among its holdings and highlights previous renovation projects that were structured to keep units affordable rather than convert them to market-rate housing, according to Grovewood Community Development.
Planned upgrades and timeline
Grovewood told Littleton council members that the overall renovation package carries an estimated price tag of about $19,095,360. The work is set to include new windows and HVAC systems, unit redesigns, energy-efficient washers and upgrades to improve ADA accessibility. The nonprofit also told the council that residents would be temporarily moved out while construction is underway but would continue paying their regular rent during that period, and the city expects construction to begin in September, according to Littleton Independent.
The council's vote gives Grovewood early local support as it lines up the rest of the financing. County and state tools like Private Activity Bonds and the tax-exempt bond cap are expected to help cover the remaining costs. Officials say the strategy is to preserve the existing affordable units before issues like deferred maintenance or market conversion put them at risk, and Grovewood is now working with city staff on detailed tenant relocation plans and a final construction schedule ahead of the anticipated September start.
