A 120-unit apartment complex along the Eagle River that came within months of losing its affordability protections celebrated its grand reopening on Tuesday, following a $69 million rescue and renovation effort that locks in below-market rents for the next 60 years. Eagle Villas, at 405 Nogal Road in the Town of Eagle, had faced the prospect of converting to market rate before a coalition of public agencies and a Denver-based developer stepped in to buy and rehabilitate the property.
According to the Colorado Department of Local Affairs on Facebook, U.S. Rep. Joe Neguse, state Rep. Dylan Roberts, Town of Eagle Mayor Bryan Woods, and Colorado Division of Local Affairs Executive Director Maria de Cambra all attended the August 11 ceremony marking the milestone. De Cambra, who worked on the Eagle Villas deal as one of her first projects after joining the department in 2023, told the crowd the project stands as an example of the public-private partnership model, per the department's post. Theresa Cassano, director of housing finance and sustainability, also represented the division at the celebration.
The urgency behind the deal traces back to late 2023, when the 30-year federal affordability restrictions on Eagle Villas neared expiration, creating what Mile High CRE describes as a narrow 90-day window to act before 120 low-income families faced potential displacement. Denver-based Ulysses Development Group acquired the property in June 2024 for $39 million specifically to prevent a market-rate conversion, according to Enterprise Community Partners. With renovation costs folded in, the total project reached $69 million, or roughly $575,000 per unit.
A Complex Financing Puzzle Under Deadline Pressure
To move fast enough to beat the expiring covenants, Ulysses Development Group assembled a short-term bridge financing stack that included loans from the National Equity Fund, the State Transformational Housing Loan Fund, an Eagle County Housing Development Authority soft loan, and $2 million in equity, before later securing tax-exempt private activity bonds and tax credits in June 2025, Enterprise Community Partners reported. The Colorado Department of Local Affairs said the Colorado Division of Housing contributed nearly $32 million in project funding, drawing on private activity bonds, affordable housing revolving loans for the initial acquisition, and HOME funds for construction. The department's Facebook post also credited the National Equity Fund, the Colorado Housing and Finance Authority, and JPMorganChase with playing major roles in financing the project, while the Eagle County Government Housing Development Authority partnered directly with Ulysses Development Group on the deal.
Eagle Villas was originally built in two phases — 100 units in 1994 and another 20 in 1997 — and sits on an 8.9-acre site along the Eagle River comprising six two- and three-story buildings, according to Northmarq. The $12.6 million renovation, averaging about $104,000 per unit across all 120 apartments, updated interior kitchens, bathrooms, flooring, and paint, while adding new exterior siding, roofing, ADA accessibility upgrades, LED lighting, and rooftop solar panels, per the same Mile High CRE report.
The Backbone of Eagle's Affordable Housing Stock
The complex offers two-, three-, and four-bedroom apartments for households earning between 45% and 60% of Area Median Income, and it accounts for more than half of the Town of Eagle's total income-restricted housing supply, according to the National Equity Fund. The Colorado Department of Local Affairs described Eagle Villas as the largest affordable housing community in the Town of Eagle, serving working families earning between $50,000 and $75,000 annually. The newly renewed covenants secure that affordability for the next 60 years, according to the department's Facebook post announcing the reopening.
That preservation battle unfolded against a backdrop of runaway housing costs across Eagle County. Between 2012 and May 2025, home prices in the county rose 209.2%, well outpacing Colorado's statewide appreciation rate of 153.7% over the same period, per the Common Sense Institute. Median rent in the county more than doubled from $991 a month in 2012 to $2,211 in 2022, while median household income rose just 39% over the same decade, according to Collective Colorado. That same reporting found that home sales priced under $500,000 in Eagle County collapsed from 451 in 2020 to just 33 in 2023, effectively wiping out the county's entry-level housing market.
National Recognition Follows Local Preservation Effort
The project has since drawn attention beyond the Eagle River Valley. In August 2026, Eagle Villas was named a national finalist in the Preservation category for Affordable Housing Finance magazine's 2026 Readers' Choice Awards, according to the National Equity Fund. For the 120 families who call the complex home, the recognition adds a national spotlight to a deal that, at its core, was about keeping a roof over their heads through a housing market that had left them with few other options.
