Rivergate workforce housing moves ahead
City names Southwest Community Partners as developer for 30 units

The City of Durango is moving ahead on 31 new workforce housing units. This week, it announced it had partnered with Southwest Community Partners, LLC, to develop the new units on a City-owned lot at Rivergate.

The City bought the 1.7-acre lot, adjacent to Animas Surgical Hospital, in December 2024 for $1.25 million using funds from the American Rescue Plan. In June 2025, the City launched a search to find a development partner. 

Southwest Community Partners, made up of five separate entities, will be tasked with not only building the project but developing a conceptual plan and timeline as well as estimating costs and funding proposals, among other things. 

Multiple proposals were received, but Southwest Community Partners was chosen as the most qualified, City Prosperity Officer Mike French said.

“We are pleased to make progress on a workforce housing-centric development that will create under-market for-sale units," French said in a new release. "We are looking forward to working with Southwest Community Partners, who had a solid design that blends into the existing planned development at Rivergate.”

In exchange for developing the lot, the City intends to donate the land to the developer, provided agreed-upon milestones are met. The city also has first right of refusal to buy an adjacent lot, which could accommodate about 40 more units. 

Southwest Community Partners is a collaboration between: Colorado Outdoors, a Montrose-based real estate developer; Boulder’s Pel-Ona Architects & Urbanists; Durango landscape architecture firm DHM Design; Durango’s Shaw Construction, which will serve as general contractor; and Colorado-based financial consultants Castlewood Partners. 

Next steps include a pre-application meeting with the City’s Community Development Department, followed by the application and review process. The development will require final approval by City Council, and there will be opportunities for public input throughout the process.

Community members can follow the project at: engage.durangoco.gov.