City of Lakewood, Colorado says there is a housing surplus!
“A large surplus (over 9,000) of rental units priced between $1,250 and $2,500 per month is estimated to exist in relation to household incomes.” p93 City of Lakewood 2024 Strategic Housing Plan https://savebelmarpark.com/download/HousingPlan.pdf
According to Lakewood’s own data, there is a LARGE SURPLUS of rental housing in Lakewood. The word SURPLUS is their choice of words. According to the US Census Bureau, Lakewood, CO has only increased in population by less that 1,000 over a four year time span from April 1, 2020 through July 1, 2024.
In that time period, Jefferson County actually lost 4,000 of population! https://www.census.gov/quickfacts/fact/table/lakewoodcitycolorado# https://www.census.gov/data/datasets/time-series/demo/popest/2020s-counties-total.html
Since 2021, Jeffco Public Schools has closed 21 schools! https://www.jeffcopublicschools.org/about/initiatives/budget-reduction-blueprint
Other districts are closing schools, too!
The metro office vacancy rate is approaching 20%! If you are looking for housing or office space, this is a renter’s or buyer’s market. If that is you, take advantage.
But why is Lakewood upzoning the entire city? Because city council is an extension of the real estate industry. Their job is to make life easier for developers, realtors, etc. Most of their donations come from outside of Lakewood!
Their biggest contributors are the real estate and housing industry!
Regardless of the demand for housing at any point in time, the housing industry is always pushing for preferential treatment from cities and city councils. And upzoning an entire city is the ultimate gift in preferential treatment for the housing industry.
What do you get out of upzoning as a resident of Lakewood? You get three minutes of fame during which you can speak to the many housing industry representatives on city council. You are allowed to provide ‘input’. Keep in mind your input in only used for its public relations value.
Because the developers typically spoke with the planning department years before and procured the city’s full support for whatever you are allowed to comment on at the last minute before it gets the big rubber stamp. Your input has no authority whatsoever. It is only an inconvenience so the housing industry can say they ‘listened’. https://lakewoodinformer.com/council-beholden-to-housing-special-interests/
