Ithaka plans to build new transitional housing at 301 S. Union Blvd., a nine-acre tract for which City Council approved rezoning from public facility to office complex on May 11. Ithaka s buildings will occupy only a portion of the property, with retail, office and townhomes planned for the site.
Pam Zubeck
Ithaka Land Trust has borrowed nearly $750,000 from the city of Colorado Springs to acquire properties over the years, and it still owes most of that money.
The house at 411 W. Bijou St. that also includes a columbarium. Pam Zubeck
Members of the Bijou Community, a tight-knit peace and justice group that provided housing to the poor for decades, is seeking an answer to its question about regaining control of one of its houses as posed several weeks ago.
It also asks Ithaka Land, formerly Ithaka Land Trust, to change its name again to more accurately reflect a change in mission from housing the poor to providing transitional housing to help low-income people become independent.
Anjuli Kapoor Pam Zubeck
The issues arose after the
Indypublished its Jan. 27 coverstory revealing the land trust sold half its properties to one developer without accepting bids or obtaining appraisals, sold some below market value as reported by the El Paso County Assessor s Office, and then floated loans to that developer, a Denver area firefighter.
UPDATE:
CSFD spokesman Mike Smaldino says via email, We cannot comment on any personnel matters when it comes to discipline.. We will not comment on nonfire department-related issues regarding employees and their outside employment.
On Jan. 29, a resident who is likely to lose his affordable rental home in a flipping scenario wrote to Colorado Springs Fire Department Deputy Fire Chief Randy Royal seeking information about Royal s son s role in the plan.
Bill Sulzman, 82, is one of many residents housed in properties formerly owned by Ithaka Land Trust. The cottage where he lives on South Tejon Street was sold in October to Drew Gaiser, a West Metro Fire Protection District firefighter and developer. Gaiser and CSFD firefighter Ryan Royal, Randy Royal s son, âhave a joint venture to work togetherâ on renovating the properties, Gaiser told the
When Bill Sulzman, 82, noticed people circling his small cottage carrying tape measures, cameras and clipboards last summer and fall, he knew something was up.
He didnât know then, but heâs since found out, that his home for 32 years, for which he pays nominal rent, was sold in October without his knowledge.
That sale and others are part of a plan to liquidate many of Ithaka Land Trustâs roughly two dozen rental properties. Most were built 100 or more years ago and were acquired through donations and purchases financed by nuns and the city.
Over the years, though, Ithakaâs maintenance bills grew while rents barely budged. With limited operating funds, the nonprofit has cooked up a plan to monetize the mostly Westside properties so it can fix up some of its rentals and build a low-income housing project southeast of downtown.