AURORA | Available real estate in North Aurora is dwindling to unprecedentedly low levels, according to a report released by the Apartment Association of Metro Denver last week.
The vacancy rate for Adams County apartments sandwiched between East Colfax Avenue to the south and I-70 to the north currently sits at an unheard of zero percent, according to data collected during the first three months of this year. In the city’s northern pockets that fall within Arapahoe County — boxed in by Colfax Avenue to the north, Alameda Avenue to the south and respective county lines to the east and west — the combined vacancy rate sits just under 5 percent.
“From a property standpoint, I think this is the last hurrah in the greater Denver region,” said Doug Adams of Cornerstone Equity in Aurora. “Aurora’s the last affordable market around.”
Adams explained that North Aurora has become the final bastion of affordable housing in a booming metro housing market due the area’s continued ability to provide value as well as its billing as an eclectic, increasingly arts-centric community.
“The fact is that you can get something for $700-$800 cheaper out here than in Denver, and that trend is just moving east,” he said. “And there’s not another community outside of New York or San Francisco with five live theaters within walking distance, which just makes this a cool place to live.”
The average rent for an Aurora apartment is currently about $1,040 per month, and about $970 per month in North Aurora specifically, according to the AAMD report. That compares to a typical Denver rent of about $1,215 per month, and a metro-wide average approximately $10 shy of the Denver mean. The report ranked the metro area as the ninth-most expensive in the country to rent an apartment.
“This is a good news/bad news situation,” said Aurora City Councilwoman Sally Mounier, whose Ward encompasses much of North Aurora. “The good news is that places are full, the bad news is there is no place to rent up in (ZIP codes) 80010 and 80011, and in addition to that most homeowners are seeing their assessed valuations going up considerably.”
Median home prices rose nearly $20,000 in ZIP code 80010 between the first and third quarters of 2014, according to data compiled by city-data.com.
Although values are rising and availability is plummeting, local leaders aren’t allowing the city’s northern market to grind to a standstill.
Acting as the Aurora Urban Renewal Authority, on April 27 Aurora City Council approved a $10 million tax increment financing plan to erect a hulking new residential-retail development at the southwest corner of East Colfax Avenue and Potomac Street, according to city documents. Expected to cost about $81 million, the project will be called The Forum at Fitzsimons and boast nearly 400 homes and close to 26,000 square feet of retail and restaurant space. Greenwood Village-based firm Catalina Development Company was selected to spearhead the project and is expected to break ground this July and be completed in roughly two years, according to Randy Bryant, president of Catalina.
Median home prices rose nearly $20,000 in ZIP code 80010 between the first and third quarters of 2014 according to data compiled by city-data.com.
Bryant said that while nothing is concrete, he plans to target a Buffalo Wild Wings-like sports bar to anchor the retail center and added that the nearby Fitzsimons 21 apartment complex on the Anschutz Medical Campus could be used for comparable pricing.
“We’re using (Fitzsimons 21) as our baseline,” he said. “There’s just a huge demand for housing and we’re lucky enough to probably have the best site in that entire area.”
A one-bedroom apartment at Fitzsimons 21 currently rents for about $1,600 per month, according to the complex’ website.
Its true my assessed value for property tax went up 32k in the one year I have lived in 80010. Lucky I bought when the price was low. Love to see these changes.
Welcome to the bubble.