Located at 30th Street and Mapleton Avenue next to transit-oriented Boulder Junction, Bluebird is the latest addition to the city’s permanent supportive housing (PSH) for chronically homeless people. Research has shown that PSH, an approach that combines permanent affordable housing units with access to wrap-around supportive services tailored to meet residents’ needs, has helped achieve long-term stable housing for formerly homeless individuals. Some studies indicate PSH can help reduce demand on hospital emergency rooms, jails and court systems, and human service agencies.
Opened in January 2024, Bluebird’s 40 apartments on three floors—8 studios and 32 one-bedrooms—now accommodate 42 tenants. Developed by Boulder’s Element Properties, Bluebird won the Eagle Award from Housing Colorado in 2024 as one of the state’s best affordable housing projects. Furnished apartments have kitchens with full-size appliances, separate bathrooms, TVs, and Wifi. The building’s amenity spaces include a comfortable and stylish lobby and commons area with art prints on the walls. Outdoor areas are fenced for privacy and security, with seating areas, garden beds, a patio with grill, and Flatiron views.
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Element Properties worked with Denver’s Shopworks Architecture and potential residents, the court system, and others to infuse Bluebird with “trauma-informed design” that emphasizes safe, secure, comfortable, and supportive spaces to reduce triggering of trauma responses. These include a 24/7 front desk, security cameras placed around the property, hallways wider than the city building code requires, soft fabrics and paint colors, and mattresses that have soft and hard sides for tenants used to sleeping on the ground.
Element Properties owns the building and operates it with a team including supportive services provided by three case managers from All Roads (formerly the Boulder Shelter for the Homeless), Boulder’s Mental Health Partners, and the nonprofit Brothers Property Managers. Half the residents are selected through Boulder County’s Coordinated Entry system, and half through Metro Denver’s One Home Coordinated Entry system. Case managers help residents obtain federal income benefits, get to mental and physical healthcare appointments, and learn life skills such as cooking.
All 40 apartments are reserved for tenants earning below 30 percent of area median income. The Colorado Division of Housing (CDOH) provides project-based vouchers to subsidize rents, and tenants pay 30 percent of their income. For example, a tenant receiving $1,000 in monthly Social Security income would owe $300 for rent.
Bluebird is Boulder’s second non-age-restricted PSH development for chronically unhoused people. The first, Lee Hill Community, with 31 apartments, opened in 2014 at Lee Hill Drive and Broadway in North Boulder. Developed by Boulder Housing Partners and All Roads, it has provided a model for the Housing First approach of a safe and stable home as a foundation to help chronically homeless individuals, who tend to have high incidences of mental illness, addictions, and/or physical disabilities.
A decade ago, the Lee Hill project faced fierce opposition from some neighbors in North Boulder who did not want permanently supportive housing for chronically homeless people near their homes. Many expressed fears that the facility, located a block away from the Boulder Shelter, would pose crime and safety problems. But since Lee Hill opened, few problems have been reported. Bluebird has not been subject to NIMBY push-back. The project met the city requirements of a conditional use review for a residential care facility, and Element Properties met with neighbors in the redeveloping area, who have been supportive.
Another major development challenge for PSH projects is the complexity of putting together a “capital stack” to finance land purchases and construction. For the $20 million Bluebird, Element Properties’ funding partners included the City of Boulder, which contributed $3 million to buy the land, and Boulder County, which contributed $500,000 for construction costs. Other funding sources included federal low-income housing tax credits, Colorado state affordable housing tax credits, Colorado Housing and Finance Authority (CHFA) private activity bonds, and Colorado Division of Housing (CDOH) funds.
Boulder also has transitional housing with supportive services for chronically homeless individuals that has been developed in recent years by local nonprofit organizations, including Bridge House, the Emergency Family Assistance Association (EFAA), and TGTHR (formerly Attention Homes).