This article is part of the 2025 Mid-Year Housing Industry Update. Click here to read the full newsletter.
As part of Colorado’s broader efforts to close the middle-income housing gap, Fulcrum Communities, a Colorado nonprofit, launched a pilot project using an innovative financing model to deliver workforce housing more quickly and efficiently. Ballard Spahr represented Fulcrum in structuring and closing the transaction.
With the state’s new Middle-Income Housing Authority (MIHA) still in its early stages, Fulcrum partnered with the Colorado Housing and Finance Authority (CHFA) to issue 501(c)(3) tax-exempt bonds. The proceeds financed the acquisition of a three-bedroom townhouse in Parker, Colorado, which will be leased to middle-income tenants earning between 80% and 120% of AMI.
By acquiring turnkey properties instead of building new units, Fulcrum’s model provides a faster path to occupancy—bypassing delays and risks associated with construction or major rehabilitation. With Colorado declaring that there is an acute shortage of affordable middle-income housing, CHFA, which approved the financing, recognized Fulcrum Communities’ potential and capacity to lessen the state’s burden in providing such affordable middle-income housing. The bond documents developed in this transaction were designed with scalability in mind, enabling Fulcrum to pursue similar acquisitions across Colorado.
Ballard Spahr attorneys worked closely with CHFA and its bond counsel to execute this first-of-its-kind structure. The firm’s team was led by Peter Lam of the Public Finance Group, with support from Real Estate Department Chair Amy McClain and Associate Alejandro Monarez.
This project reflects a growing trend: public and nonprofit partnerships using tailored legal and financial strategies to address the “missing middle”—those earning too much for traditional subsidies but too little to afford housing near job centers.
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