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WHY MULTI-FAMILY HOUSING MATTERS MORE THAN YOU THINK

6 days ago
2 min read

Updated: 5 days ago

Over the last few years, our crews have wired a lot of multi-family projects around Johnstown. Every time we're on one of these job sites, we hear the same concerns from neighbors: traffic, overcrowding, quality of construction. I get it. Change is uncomfortable, especially when it's happening in your backyard.

But here's what I see from the construction side of things. There are some angles you might not have considered.

multi-family housing in northern Colorado

The quality question

Let's start with the "poorly built" concern, because that's the one I can speak to directly. These aren't slapped-together projects. The permitting process alone is complicated, with more hoops to jump through than single-family developments. Construction standards for multi-family require serious electrical infrastructure, including panel upgrades, dedicated circuits, fire safety systems, backup power. The time and building materials that are going into these units have been rising drastically in recent years.

That's actually part of the problem. When communities demand high standards (which is good), and then layer on complex permitting requirements (also reasonable), it drives up construction costs. Those costs get passed to renters. So we end up in this catch-22: people want quality construction, then complain when rents are high.

The price problem

Right now in Johnstown, the median home price is around $499,000 (Redfin). That's down slightly from last year, but it's still a huge number for most people. Meanwhile, the average apartment rent runs about $1,776 per month (RentCafe). Neither number is small.

Across the country, The Property Brothers are saying we're about 4 million housing units short of a healthy supply. That shortage affects everyone, homeowners and renters alike. We can't build single-family homes fast enough or affordably enough to solve this problem.

So where does our workforce live? Our dairy workers, teachers, nurses, retail staff: all the people who keep Northern Colorado running – where can they actually afford to live? Some are getting creative: living with family longer, starting in a townhouse, looking at lease-to-own arrangements.

Multi-family housing isn't just about apartments. It's about getting more housing built faster than sprawling single-family subdivisions can deliver. It's also about infrastructure efficiency. When you build denser housing near existing roads and utilities, you're not spending millions to extend water lines, sewer systems, and electrical service across miles of new development. From an infrastructure standpoint, it's just smarter.

And from the buyer or renter’s perspective, not everybody wants or needs a house with a yard right now. Young professionals starting out, people between homes, families saving for a down payment. They need quality rental options as a stepping stone.

The bigger picture

Northern Colorado is growing whether we like it or not. The question isn't whether we build more housing: it's what kind we build and where. Fighting every multi-family project because it doesn't fit someone's idea of what the neighborhood "should" look like doesn't stop growth. It just forces people to commute farther, drives up housing costs for everyone, and makes it harder for local businesses to find workers who can actually afford to live nearby.

We need more housing at all price points. Multi-family is part of that solution.