Longmont’s homeless will soon get another opportunity for permanent housing as the city prepares for the construction of a 55-unit complex at the The Suites Apartment complex at 2000 Sunset Way.
The Sunset Heights Permanent Supportive Rental Housing development is scheduled for completion in 2024 at the adjacent Suites property, which already provides 82-apartments for the formerly homeless, Molly O’Donnell, division director for housing and community investment for Longmont, said via email..
The opening of Sunset Heights will provide even more help for the area’s homeless, Alice Sueltenfuss, executive director of Longmont Homeless Outreach Providing Encouragement, or HOPE, said via email.
“I love the Suites,” Sueltenfuss said. “They provide housing options for our most vulnerable individuals and I used to know a few folks who live there.”
HOPE staff members help match local homeless with housing options in the city, including the Suites, Sueltenfus said.
Those who will qualify for Sunset Heights - like all homeless seeking housing - will first go through an extensive checklist to make sure they are the proper fit, O’Donnell said.
Half of all potential residents for the facility will come from the Metro Denver Homeless Initiative One Home Coordinated Entry database, she said. People in the database are prioritized using the VI-SPDAT tool.
VI-SPAT stands for Vulnerability Index - Service Prioritization Decision Assistance Prescreen Tool, which helps identify who should be recommended for each housing and support intervention, according to the Colorado Coalition for the Homeless.
Those with the highest VI scores go to the top of the pre-match list and local case workers meet to decide which individuals best fit local housing, O’Donnell said.
The other half of potential residents will come from the Boulder County coordinated entry system. Boulder County Connect - or BCC - has been in place since October 2017 and uses availability of local resources, disability, length of homelessness, VI score and ties to the community to come up with a place for that person to live, she said.
In 2020, 1,136 new individuals complete the coordinated entry assessment process, O’Donnell said. Of those, 413 qualified for referral to the Boulder Shelter and for possible permanent housing.
There are also 287 individuals in the MDHI One Home system that entered the system from Boulder County. Over 60 people from that group are on the pre-match list and ready for placement, she said.
Sunset Heights is waiting for the award of 9% competitive tax credits, which should be known by May, O’Donnell said. Once the tax credits are awarded, architectural design and crafting the financing package will begin.
The city and the Longmont Housing Authority jointly own the land Sunset Heights will be built on and have entered into an agreement for sale of the 1.38 acres the parcel rests on, according to a staff report to the city council.
The Longmont Housing Authority will be the property management company for Sunset Heights and the Boulder Shelter for the Homeless will provide support services for its residents, the report states.
