Aldo Svaldi reports on the beginnings of a condo boom in Denver, which faces risks of legal setbacks in the "litigious environment" created by Colorado's controversial construction-defects law.
"Ever so slowly, developers are moving forward on a new wave of condo construction in the metro area — but they are treading like soldiers crossing a minefield. The developers say they are going in with the assumption they will be sued under the state's current construction-defects law and are incurring heavy costs to avoid that fate," according to the article.
Svaldi quotes a number of developer sources who credit (blame, maybe) the construction defect law for higher insurance premiums in construction and higher costs for occupants.
The article includes the arguments in favor of the law, which are represented by theBuild Our Homes Right advocacy group, which argues that "[somebody] has to pay when homes are built poorly, and weakening the state law without implementing other safeguards will only burden consumers…"
The question is also raised how affordable units could be built in the current legal environment—the higher cost of condos can balance out the insurance premiums, but the same isn't true for affordable units.
Back in October, John Aguilar reported that the city of Lakewood voted to soften the law.
FULL STORY: Condos make a cautious comeback in Denver metro area
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City of Albany
UCLA Lewis Center for Regional Policy Studies
Mpact (formerly Rail~Volution)
Chaddick Institute at DePaul University
City of Piedmont, CA
Great Falls Development Authority, Inc.
HUDs Office of Policy Development and Research