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Outline of Need:
The San Luis Valley Farmworker Housing Corporation had a critical need for affordable year-round farm labor housing for families in Center, Colorado. The housing needed to provide a strong sense of home to the residents while at the same time create a thread of commonality with the nearby public facilities, including a new Head Start School.
How Rural Development Helped:
USDA Rural Development, along with other lenders, provided loan and grant funds (learn more about this program) to finance the construction of five buildings containing 25 one- and two-story townhouse units and a community building at a total development cost of $2,639,864.
The Colorado State and Field Office staff worked closely with the applicant's Denver-based consultant, Faleide Architects, in developing the design for the complex and monitoring its construction.
The Results:
The housing was constructed in 2003 as the second phase of the Tierra Nueva complex. It has a total building area of 29,150 square feet and incorporates concrete crawlspace foundations, vinyl windows, "Hardiplank" siding, and asphalt shingles. To accomplish the overriding design philosophy of creating a place where people could feel at home, the architect used color, form, passageways, and private unit entrances doors and porches. The complex also incorporates iconic forms found throughout the local community to bind the wide ranging social, cultural and geographical backgrounds of the migrant farmer.
For its achievement of combining quality design with affordability, this complex is being nationally recognized by the National Building Museum in Washington, DC. It is one of 18 urban and rural housing projects from across the nation on display at the Museum to demonstrate how well-designed developments can provide opportunities for low-income Americans, while creating valuable assets for their surrounding communities.
(April 2004)
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