ASPEN — Affordable housing can now be bought and sold as a commodity on the free market by developers who don’t want to pay the city’s fees or build it themselves, the Aspen City Council decided Monday.

The council voted unanimously to approve an amendment to the land-use code that allows for affordable housing credits to be transferred. As a result, a developer can purchase a credit for affordable housing that has already been built and occupied.

Just how much the credits could be worth is dependent on what the market will bear, and will be influenced by supply and demand.

Under the new program, a developer would likely explore the market for affordable housing credits to find out if they could negotiate a lower price than the cost of constructing new units or buying down existing free-market units, according to Ben Gagnon, the city’s special project planner.

Essentially, the local government has created a new commodity that places a cash value on the development of affordable housing. The price is set between the buyer and seller.

Read the entire article in the Aspen Times.

AS of December 13, 2010, Richard J. Magill  is a LEED Green Associate!

Mr. Magill plans to take the LEED AP – Neighborhood Design exam in 2011.

Mr. Magill is also studying for the A.I.C.P. exam in 2011 and the L.A.R.E . in 2012.

Pitkin County and the City of Aspen have implemented programs which utilize the concept of transfering development rights from a  “Sending Site” to lands that have been identified as being more suitable for development (”Receiver Site”). This valuable land use planning tool has been utilized extensively, particularly in Pitkin County, to preserve thousands of acres of backcountry. Magill & Associates- Planning and Landscape Architecture has been involved with the aquisition and utilization of TDRs, mainly in the County, since the inception of the program in 1993. See the “News” page of this website for more information on TDRs.

There have been two TDRs utilized to increase floor area in the Morningstar project below, with the potential for three more. Magill first identified that the Morningstar project area was well suited to “receive” these TDRs due to its proximity to existing services and lack of any major environmental concerns.