Cheyenne’s housing crunch: Mayor Collins says a 184-unit project is in the works — and he’s hunting for funding

The original story by Doug Randall for KGAB AM 650.

Cheyenne Mayor Patrick Collins says he’s still pushing to chip away at the city’s long-running shortage of affordable housing — and he thinks a new project could make a real dent, if the financing and logistics line up.

In his “Mayor’s Minute” column on Friday, Dec. 12, Collins said the city has been working on an affordable housing development that would bring 184 units to the market — a number he called a big step toward easing the pressure.

“I have talked about an upcoming affordable housing project for a while now,” Collins wrote. “184 affordable housing units will make a huge dent in our housing shortage, and it will take a real team effort to make it happen.”

Collins said the project is tied to Low Income Housing Tax Credits (LIHTC) — a common tool for building affordable housing, but one that comes with strings attached.

One of those strings, he said, is the required cash deposits for utilities, which can quietly eat into how much housing can actually get built.

The city’s developer and Black Hills Energy (BHE) met this week to work out a solution — basically trying to protect ratepayers if the utility makes upgrades for the project and then the developer doesn’t follow through.

“We learned that the required cash deposits for utilities negatively affect how much housing can be built,” Collins wrote. He said he appreciates BHE “and their willingness to work with us to find a creative solution.”

Collins said Cheyenne has applied for a Business Ready Grant through the Wyoming Business Council, hoping to buy land for an affordable housing project. The city is scheduled to pitch the idea to the Business Council Board of Directors in February, then to the State Land and Investment Board in April.

He’s also looking beyond the state. Collins said he’s asked US Sen. Cynthia Lummis for help in bringing more federal funding into the mix.

Cheyenne’s housing shortage has been a problem for years — and it’s not just a “real estate” issue. It’s an economic development problem, too.

When new businesses consider moving to Cheyenne, the city’s housing supply — and whether workers can afford to live there — is often one of the first concerns. And the squeeze limits the pool of available employees who already live in town.

That’s part of why it’s common for people working in Cheyenne — including at F.E. Warren Air Force Base — to rent in places like Laramie or Fort Collins instead. The commute might work on a good day, but it can turn ugly fast when winter storms slam southeast Wyoming and transportation becomes a real headache.

For Collins, the message is pretty clear: Cheyenne can’t grow the way it wants to without more places for people to live — and especially more places people can actually afford.