A major miscommunication between elected officials and their private developer of choice is threatening to derail progress on more than 200 affordable homes in town.
There is still a $5 million gap between what the RV lot conversion will cost to build and how much Teton County workers will be able to pay for homes.
This came as a surprise Monday when the Jackson Town Council and Teton County Commission met to advance what’s slated to be the most dense housing development in Jackson.
Multiple decision-makers expressed shock and frustration that the new gap was brought up out of the blue. This comes after three years of planning and much progress shrinking what started out as a nearly $32 million funding gap. At stake is the project’s timeline and how affordable the homes are.
Commissioner Wes Gardner described the latest update from Pennrose as a “bait and switch.”
He suggested he would have changed his supportive vote in March — when electeds and the developer left the room “hugging” — if he had realized an additional $10 million would create a new funding gap.
In a sign of waning support, Councilor Jonathan Schechter told KHOL he changed his own vote after the most recent meeting.
Electeds considered adjourning the meeting early but made use of the remaining hours to hash out more specifics such as who will qualify for the subsidized apartments and condos.
Electeds have so far committed $50 million total to buy land and build on the 5-acre lot. At least $5 million of that was a commitment to buy housing for government employees.
Electeds thought that also helped bridge the funding gap.
But buying units for government employees does not help fund the project, developer Pennrose said. Housing Supply Board Chair Laura Bonich agreed. During public comment, she blasted elected officials for thinking their previous commitment would get the project over the finish line.
“I’m sitting back here thinking, ‘What the heck? You’re all smart people. How could you possibly come up here and now say, ‘Oh, my gosh, this is new information’?”
Electeds, however, worried that covering the additional price tag would mean that the project loses its affordability, for instance by changing the income bracket of those who qualify for certain units.
Mayor Arne Jorgensen said that would erode the mission of a project that “meets a very significant need in our community.” As the debate around financing dragged on, Councilor Devon Viehman said she was taken aback that so many details were yet to be ironed out after two years of public meetings.
“I don’t want to leave here with more confusion,” she said.
The complexity of sharing the costs and responsibilities of such a significant housing project is one reason the town and county don’t typically partner on development, Commissioner Natalia Macker said.
Schechter said the discussion about owning units for government employees should wait until the town finalizes a needs assessment that is due in the fall. But the project is slated to move forward before that deadline.
Officials and housing staff hope to finalize a development agreement this spring. The next meeting on the Virginian Lane project is May 11.
