BY ISAIAH FRIZZELL
The housing crisis afflicting the entire country can seem even more potent in Blaine County as each city attempts to address it in their own way. Finding a permanent home in the Valley can take years, depending on who you ask, and even rental rates are far above the national average.
According to census.gov, for 2023, the median income in Blaine County, in 2022 dollars, was $81,000. There were 16,000 housing units for a population of 25,041. With 18.3% of the population under 18, that leaves around 20,000 adults. Sun Valley is a community of adults. So why is the housing and rental situation so amplified in the media? Is it really an issue? It would appear so, even such that Ketchum has focused so much time and resources on addressing the issue.
Bluebird
There are so many moving parts to a housing project that it defies concise explanation. Banks, investors, developers, government—it’s a huge labyrinth of waterslides conducting money through policy and teamwork.
Bluebird is the name of an income-restricted housing project that is nearing completion in Ketchum. According to https://bluebirdketchum.com/ “Bluebird Village is the affordable housing community you have been waiting for. Conveniently located in the heart of downtown Ketchum’s retail core and close to everything for an active lifestyle.”
Bluebird offers energy-efficient homes in various sizes, each unit of which has been measured for specific income levels. They offer:
* Studios
* 1 bed 1 bath
* 2 bed 1 bath
* 2 bed 2 bath
* 3 bed 2 bath
Carissa Connelly
The Blaine County Housing Authority (BCHA) oversees all local regulations as well as the interviewing process for potential tenants to inhabit these new homes. Carissa Connelly, housing director for the City of Ketchum, spoke at length on the fascinating structure of the project.
“These projects take a very long time and there are a ton of players. First tax credits are applied for, in this case as far back as 2019. Then what usually happens is site selection, often property owned by the city, and then an application is put together that is incredibly intensive. It can be over 100 pages of varying documents that are sent to Idaho Housing Finance Association (IHFA). This can take three to five months just to review and then hopefully an award letter comes out.”
A huge process, there are also a myriad of reasons for each step. “All the developments won’t be awarded unless there are local funds in it. Tax credits are essentially a massive equity injection into the development. Like a down payment, you know, you try to put down 20% and then the debt you pay is on the 80%. So the larger the 80% is, the more you pay, and so with tax credits for low-income housing to get the rent so low, your operating expenses have to be really low and debt has to be tiny. So that massive equity injection is a priority.”
Affordability
“In this case, Bluebird came from city-owned property. As a space, old city hall was a mess, it was ready for demolition. They have a new city hall now and as they owned this location, using it made it easier to keep rents low since there was no major land purchase. The city has a ground lease and in that there are stipulations around affordability. IHFA has 45-year restrictions on affordability.”
How is affordability determined? “The national standard is for people to not be paying more than 30% of their income on housing, inclusive of utilities, fees and everything related to housing. It’s a really intricate system for calculating by household size and bedroom size. As the size increases, the income limit increases, and so each unit is designated for a specific income level, which finds rent on those units based on what is affordable for that income level according to Blaine County’s area median income. In Bluebird, most units sit between 50¬–70% area median income specific to Blaine County and what is affordable for each of those tiers of income in Blaine County.”
The developers of Bluebird also developed Northwood Place near the fire station in Ketchum. They continue with the same property manager and it all becomes a game of finance. Why is there such a problematic housing crisis? Why not have local developers create more of these low-income projects?
“People often ask why not have a local developer develop low-income housing, but it’s extremely complicated, with multiple layers of funding sources that all have their own regulations and requirements. If you get out of compliance on any of them, you have to pay that money back. So it’s hard for developers to even get in the game without a mentor. Same with the property management side. They have to do more training than usual as they’re screening people’s income. It’s so deep and detailed that of all housing programs this one is overseen by the IRS.”
Development
After 15 years, the entire building will be owned by the Ketchum Community Development Corporation, a local nonprofit. They will have long-term ownership of the building and the City of Ketchum will have long-term ownership of the land.
So who are the key players? “GMD Development out of Seattle are the developers. They’re the ones that get all funding together. They coordinate the architect, the contractors, the permits, the property management and then the City of Ketchum puts in funding and ground leasing. BCHA provides the property manager with the wait list. IHFA is the one that says whether the property is eligible for tax credits and they are who receive the huge application and documentation along with the banks. The IRS and third -arty auditors are also on the periphery. So it’s a huge, huge project.”
And one huge thing to make note of is that if you are looking for housing, you could still potentially qualify for Bluebird. “If you don’t get in now,it will be almost impossible later. It’s the most stable form of housing you can get into outside of ownership. Over 50% of people who currently need housing are on a month to month or verbal lease, which means they literally have no rights to their home in 30 days. We have such a landlord-friendly market that landlords can do what they want.”
And what about income? Don’t most people make too much in Blaine County? “One thing people assume is that they make too much. Because there’s different incomes for different units, it’s really anyone who’s below the median of about $80,000 per year.”
Bluebird is projected to open for move-in this September, with the exact date unknown at this time. “It’s sort of waiting on an elevator delivery.” Connelly laughs.
If you qualify for Bluebird, congratulations! You’re going up!