VISTA VERDE

Vista Verde in Breckenridge, Colorado won a 2024 Charles L. Edson Tax Credit Excellence Award in the Green and Healthy Housing category.

Vista Verde Apartments, the first phase of the Vista Verde neighborhood, is an 80-home mixed-income apartment community providing 64 Housing Credit homes serving households earning 60 percent of the area median income (AMI) and below, and 16 non-Housing Credit homes serving households earning 100 percent AMI and below. The project utilized a coordinated design-build approach to reduce energy consumption and provide a 650 kW Photovoltaic (PV) solar system to achieve annual site-sourced Net Zero goals. Vista Verde has a Zero Energy Ready Home certification, meaning the building produces enough energy onsite to offset energy consumption. 

Vista Verde is a perpetually affordable community in Breckenridge, Colorado, a rural mountain community where affordable housing is scarce. Pricing rents at 60 percent AMI or less ensures the town’s workforce will be able to both live and work within the same community; studies show many would otherwise have to commute long distances as they are priced out of their homes.

This development was made possible by a public-private partnership with the Town of Breckenridge. Early in the design phase, Breckenridge identified their desire to set a precedent for sustainable housing with the ambitious goal of providing an all-electric, Net Zero Energy development in Climate Zone 7 while being affordable for the community. This project achieves lofty goals for reduced demand on energy systems, multi-modal connectivity, and sustained housing affordability in Breckenridge. To obtain Net Zero Energy, the team had to look at more than just solar and energy efficiency, but also had to score in the categories of impactful land use, health and air quality, financial equitability, resilience, up front and ongoing costs, as well as ease of ongoing maintenance. The built project enhances and anchors the edge of a large tract of future growth. The project is designed to provide a lasting, well-designed, sustainable community for all residents.

The development represents the efforts of Gorman & Company, the Town of Breckenridge, and the National Equity Fund to preserve, improve, and increase affordable housing opportunities in Breckenridge, Colorado.