Jackson Street Apartments greenlighted

JACKSON HOLE, Wyo. — The largest 100% permanently deed-restricted housing project in the county was just greenlighted this week, paving the way for 57 new apartments to be built in downtown Jackson.

The Teton County Board of County Commissioners unanimously approved a new housing partnership with the Cumming Foundation during a its meeting on Tuesday.

Named Jackson Street Apartments, the new rental community will be built across 10 lots located south of Snake River Brewing. This project is the largest 100% permanently deed restricted development to be built in Teton County.

The Cumming Foundation will contribute six lots that it currently owns that are zoned Commercial Residential-2 in the lodging overlay and $10,000,000 to the development. Teton County will contribute four adjacent lots to the south of the foundation’s lots that are zoned Neighborhood High Density. In return for the land contribution, the county will receive 15 Employee Rights of First Rental. Teton County will also contribute $5,000,000 of housing mitigation fees to the development.

“The scarcity and rising cost of housing puts tremendous pressure on residents. Often the only solution is to leave Jackson and find housing and employment in other places, which causes uncertainty in people’s lives and harms the community,” said Cumming Foundation chairman David Cumming. “We couldn’t be any happier to be involved with Teton County in bringing this project to Jackson and to help relieve some of that pressure.”

The Jackson Street Apartments development has been years in the making and was initially conceived by the late Ian M. Cumming, founder and chairman of Leucadia National Corporation. Before his passing, Cumming shared his vision for the property, which was to build a highly livable, affordable rental development in a way that is scalable both in Jackson and other communities.

Since his passing, the family and Jackson/Teton County Housing Department have worked with neighbors, civic organizations, and other stakeholders to refine the design of the development so that it balances community character and the high demand for affordable apartments.

“Creating a community at this site that provides space for individuals and families to live and thrive has been at the core of this work and that really comes through in the design we have today,” said Affordable Housing director April Norton. “I am thrilled to see this development receive such broad and diverse community support and am grateful to the Cumming Family and the Teton County Commissioners for their leadership in creating this partnership opportunity.”

In addition to the contributions from the Cumming Foundation and Teton County, First Republic Bank is providing below-market debt for the development’s construction.

“Affordable rental housing is critical to Jackson’s future and a key objective of First Republic Bank’s lending strategy,” said Kellie Abreu, with First Republic Bank. “We are pleased to support this very important initiative by providing attractive project financing.”

Jackson Street Apartments received approval from the town’s Design Review Committee earlier this year. The next step for this development is the submission of the building and other necessary permits to the Town of Jackson. The partners anticipate breaking ground on the development later this year.