Sterling housing project wins state funding for affordable homes

A Sterling housing project won Proposition 123 funding on July 21, joining 10 other developments across Colorado in a state-backed effort projected to add 728 multifamily rental units. Gov. Jared Polis, the Colorado Office of Economic Development and International Trade and the Colorado Housing and Finance Authority announced the selections, which also include projects in Colorado Springs, Denver, Clifton, Idaho Springs and Wheat Ridge.

For Sterling, the award lands in a city where housing has become a workforce issue as much as a real-estate one. Logan County opted into Prop 123 for affordable housing in August 2025, and Sterling City Council later approved a housing development permit in a split vote after developers and the outgoing Planning Commission chair said studies showed more affordable housing was needed in town. That debate reflected a basic local pressure point: if workers cannot find homes they can afford, employers have a harder time keeping positions filled in schools, hospitals, retail, agriculture and government.

Proposition 123 was approved by Colorado voters in November 2022. The measure created the State Affordable Housing Fund, financed by 0.1% of state income tax revenue, with 40% of the money directed to the Department of Local Affairs and 60% to the Affordable Housing Financing Fund overseen by OEDIT and managed by CHFA. State officials designed the program to support new construction, preservation, land banking and rental assistance, making the Sterling award part of a broader financing strategy rather than a one-off grant.

The local stakes are not new. A 2021 housing action plan said Sterling and Logan County needed 150 new affordable housing units over five years, a target that underscores how long the shortage has been on the county’s radar. The Prop 123 award now gives one Sterling project a path forward inside a statewide program that is trying to close financing gaps in communities where market-rate construction alone has not kept pace with demand.

What comes next will decide how much the project changes life in Logan County. The key questions now are how many homes the Sterling development will produce, what rent levels those units will hit, and whether the finished project will help local employers keep teachers, hospital staff and other essential workers in the county seat.