As casinos plan to expand in Cripple Creek, Colorado, officials are attempting to address its lack of available, affordable housing. According to state data, in Cripple Creek more than 90 percent of the 2,100 people employed there in 2015 did not live in town. Hundreds of casino employees, mine workers, teachers, police officers and firefighters commute an hour or more, often in harsh weather, to get to their jobs in the two towns.
Cripple Creek Planning and Community Development Director Bill Gray said, “I think one of their struggles is that they get employees and they lose them. If a guy’s just working at the restaurant at the Wildwood Casino, and he’s commuting up here–it’s 84 miles, you know, 80-some-odd miles every day–and he finds a job and it’s only five minutes from home, it may be an easy decision.”
Cripple Creek recently received a $25,000 grant from the Colorado Department of Local Affairs for a joint housing needs assessment study. Officials said they hope the results will lead to new residential development.
Meanwhile, some Cripple Creek casinos aren’t waiting for the city to take action. For example, Triple Crown Hotel and Casino, which has been approved by the town historic commission to build a 158-room hotel with a restaurant, ballroom and event space, recently acquired the Gold Fever Inn to convert into employee apartments. Wildwood Casino, which is planning to add a 100-room hotel, purchased several lots in town to possibly build employee housing, Gray said. He noted Century Casino, which plans to renovate the historic Palace Hotel, also has discussed workforce housing.
Gray said the average age of Cripple Creek’s housing stock is 70-80 years old, and a lot is much older. He noted the town’s newest multifamily development, which includes 10 townhomes, was built 10 years ago. Also, unoccupied buildings are an issue, with out-of-state owners who will not sell, rent or maintain them, according to Cripple Creek City Administrator Mark Campbell.
Historic preservation guidelines also create issues for developers, Campbell said. The rules are not necessarily an obstacle to creating housing, but they require new buildings to blend in with the original late-19th-century architecture. He said depending on the results of the housing study, he’d be open to offering tax incentives for housing construction.
Still, if casino expansion leads to more residential development, other services will be required, Campbell pointed out. He said Cripple Creek has a grocery store and a health center, but not a pharmacy nor a hospital; the closest ones are 25 miles away in Woodland Park. Still, Campbell said, “One of the benefits we have as being small communities in Cripple Creek: If you have a planning application, it’s probably going to be dealt with within a week.”
