Whetstone Village workforce housing project delayed

It was recently announced that construction on the workforce housing complex Whetstone Village was delayed, but officials remain hopeful that work may soon be able to resume pending approval from the Crested Butte Fire Protection District. Progress on the housing development had previously been halted due to some challenges with a subcontractor who is no longer on the project. Officials say measures have been taken to find work-arounds to the issues and that creative solutions are currently being discussed.

The crucial component to the project that caused a delay was the subcontractor’s failure to complete the housing complex’s connection to the Town of Crested Butte’s water main. Access to a water source such as this is an important contingency plan in case of a fire on the construction site and is a fire safety requirement for work to be able to continue on the project.

“We’ve been working with Crested Butte Fire Protection District on a plan to provide alternate water for fire flows to the job site so that we can keep working through the winter,” Gunnison County Manager Matthew Birnie said. “They have tentatively approved a plan for us to set up pumps in the river, which would be tied into the fire hydrants on the site. … They apparently use a similar system for fire flows at their new station so they were very helpful in talking about that as a solution.”

Aside from this alternative water supply solution and some geothermal drilling that was deemed “low risk,” the majority of work on the Whetstone Village project remains on pause until final approval for the new river water pump plan is granted by the Fire Marshall.

“Other work is halted (we hope paused) until we can get approval of an alternate water source,” Birnie said. “Deputy Fire Marshall Joe Wonnacott is reviewing the specifications of the pumps and plans in order to give us final approval.”

If the proposal for the new water solution is approved by the fire district, Birnie says that the contractors will install the water system and then continue working on the completion of current structures as well as the construction of new buildings.

“We have two buildings that are up and ready for plumbing and electrical and other finish work, so the goal is to keep working on those buildings’ interior work through the winter and potentially to finish two other buildings and get them dried in as well,” Birnie said. The term “drying in” entails completing the windows, roof, and siding or subsiding of the structures in order to weatherproof them.

The 15-acre Whetstone Village project has been designed to provide 252 additional one-, two- and three-bedroom homes to Gunnison Valley workers and families. The housing in this complex will be available to residents who are either currently making a living working in the Gunnison Valley or have recently retired from doing so. Seventy-five percent of the units will be made available to individuals and families qualifying for the income requirement range, which is 80-150% area median income (AMI). Twenty-five percent of the units will not be income-dependent. According to the website, “the community will offer a mix of modern apartments and townhomes with a variety of layouts…some townhomes will even include extra space for storage or small businesses.”

Despite the recent delay, Birnie assured that the project is not behind schedule. In addition to having been previously ahead of schedule, the contract for the construction project on Whetstone Village has built in contingencies for delays as well as guarantees for completion — including compensation for any missed rental payments associated with the schedule. All of these combined strategies will ensure that the Whetstone Village housing project will be complete with units available for leasing by 2027. 

For more information visit whetstonecb.com.

(Gia Wright can be contacted at 970-641-1414 or jwright@orourkemediagroup.com.)