Study to identify gaps in workforce housing

A housing needs assessment for Whitefish underway now should provide a complete picture of the housing situation here by this fall.

“We want to see what challenges you face in your community with affordable housing,” Wendy Sullivan, with WSW Consulting, said. “We’re trying to figure out what is happening, why it’s happening and what we can do.”

Sullivan met with Whitefish City Council and representatives from the business community during meetings last week as the kick-off to the study.

Sullivan is working alongside Melanie Rees of Rees Consulting, which the Whitefish Chamber of Commerce contracted with to conduct the study. The Crested Butte, Colorado-based firm, has worked with a number of mountain resort towns like Breckenridge, Aspen and Steamboat Springs in Colorado, to Sun Valley, Idaho, Mammoth Lakes, Calif., and Jackson Hole, Wyo.

“Workforce housing is obviously not a new problem to Whitefish, but it has risen to a new level of priority,” Rees said.

Housing needs assessments examine housing conditions, quantify problems and estimate the number of additional units needed. The assessment also will identify opportunities and potential solutions for an action plan.

Rees notes there are several different types of housing. Workforce housing is a broad term that also includes housing that is affordable.

“We’re talking about housing for employees and their families here in Whitefish,” she said. “It often goes to much higher income levels than you would think because in places where the cost of housing has risen so much higher than wages, we often see the middle class being pushed out of housing.”

“Workforce housing really talks to the community,” Sullivan added. “It’s housing who you need to fill your jobs, especially in resort communities.”

The study will focus on the 59937 ZIP code area, which includes Whitefish and the surrounding area. The final report is expected in October.

The goal of the study is to identify how much housing is needed, at what price point and for whom in the workforce. That runs the gamut from entry-level seasonal employees up to the managers at North Valley Hospital, Sullivan said.

The analysis will look at the relationship between jobs and housing, demographic characteristics, key economic indicators, commuting patterns, employment needs, housing costs relative to income, and both rental and for-sale market conditions.

“We will look at the gap in what employers are trying to fill,” Sullivan said. “As I’ve walked around Whitefish, I’ve seen help wanted signs in the windows. That, unfortunately, is not uncommon in resort towns.”

The assessment will include analysis of existing data, along with an employer survey and focus groups made up of real estate agents, lenders and property mangers.

“The focus groups can help analyze what is going on,” Sullivian said. “Then we will also be targeting specific data coming from the city and county.”

The study will also look at projected demand for five years.

“We don’t like going beyond that point because projections are hypothetical,” Sulliavan said. “To have successful programs moving forward you need to do regular check-ins. Five years gives you enough time to do something, figure out where you’re at and then where you need to go moving forward from there.”

Rees said the analysis won’t provide a “silver bullet” solution to the problem.

“We will be presenting multiple strategies,” she said. “It will probably involve a mix of efforts and include sharing the responsibility of providing housing. Until we do an analysis we can’t be very specific about the strategies. Typically it’s the city, the housing authority, non-profits and businesses working together for workforce housing.”

City Council gave its input on what it sees as the challenges facing the community in terms of housing.

Councilor Jen Frandsen said workforce housing has been one of the city’s top priorities in the last two years.

“There has been a huge trend toward units moving to the short-term rental market, and Canadian buyers coming in and buying up stock,” Frandsen said. “At the same time, businesses are trying to grow and expand — it’s an unfortunate mix.”

Frandsen said she would like to see the right tools presented to Council so it can work on the problem moving forward.

Councilor Richard Hildner said the city needs to make sure housing is affordable for the full spectrum of employees, including teachers, firefighters, police officers, nurses, doctors and resort workers.

“We like to think of ourselves as an authentic mountain community and not a tourist town,” he said. “In order to keep that, we have to have the people who work here be able to live here.”

Councilor Frank Sweeney said the city has faced challenges in getting neighbors on board with the idea that workforce housing is a positive.

“High density housing, which is often necessary for more affordable units, are not things that neighborhoods appreciate,” Sweeney said. “To make this a reality there is going to need to be some change in minds and hearts.”

Councilor Katie Williams said dialogue is needed within the community to understand what affordable housing really is and why it’s important to the community.

“People often assume affordable housing is low income housing, but really we’re talking about our teachers, firefighters, nurses and business managers,” she said. “You can talk to anyone of them and they’re having trouble living in Whitefish and they’re the backbone of our community. We need the community to support anything that we might implement down the road.”