Aspen (c91) News

CRASH PAD CRASH

Aspen’s Filling Up Fast

By David Frey, 9-25-06

Winter hasn't even arrived yet, and Aspen's affordable housing options are close to selling out.

Aspen Skiing Co.'s apartments are full. So are three of the city's seasonal housing offerings. A fourth is expected to fill up by mid-October.

Kim Keilin runs the city's Centennial affordable housing property. Usually, she tells the Aspen Daily News, she has about 15 apartments for rent this time of year. This year, she has four, and they're spoken for.

"In 20 years of doing this job, I've never seen the market this tight," she told the Daily News.

Officials say the units are filling up with foreign workers coming in for the winter on special visa programs. They're paying thousands of dollars to reserve rooms they won't set foot in for two months, even before they even know if they'll get their visas. They've learned their lesson the hard way. Last winter, visa workers crammed into Aspen City Council complaining there just weren't any apartments available.

Many could face the same problem this year. Some complex managers say their apartments are filling up with locals. They're just beginning to get calls from foreign workers. "I don't even know what to tell these people," manager Jennifer Bennett said.

Part of the problems, she says, is that condo unit owners, often retirees, who used to rent out their apartments, are now moving in themselves. The rentals that remain are fetching higher rents as real estate prices soar. Some one-bedroom units are going for $1,400 a month.

"It's not affordable for the average worker," Bennett told the Daily News.

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