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Tiny Homes A Small Step To Solve Housing Crisis, Others Evicted

By Matt Kroschel

ASPEN, Colo. (CBS4) - The current housing crisis will not be completely fixed with the move, but Aspen's largest employer is making a "tiny" move to help provide its employees a warm place to sleep.

CBS4 has learned Aspen Skiing Co. has ordered more than 30 pre-built tiny homes to add to the Aspen Basalt Campground in time to house employees by next ski season.

Micro-Housing
(credit: sprouttinyhomes.com)

The company started experimenting with six of the tiny homes for employees last season.

The latest set of tiny homes will be larger and can fit up to three people, with one-and-a-half bathrooms.

The new tiny home village is located on the property the ski are purchased several years ago, the former KOA Campground. That means 17 current tenants who live year-round at the former campground must leave to make room for the tiny houses.

The residents are being offered up to $3,000 to leave ahead of the deadline of Sept. 1, Aspen Ski Company Director of Public Relations Jeff Hanle told CBS4 Monday.

If the tiny homes plan comes to fruition, more than 100 seasonal workers at the ski area will have a place to sleep thanks to the additional units.

That does little for the hundreds more who have a nearly impossible task of finding housing in the super tight and expensive rental market.

"Having to leave the campground will likely disrupt your life in a significant way. We sincerely regret this," Aspen Ski Company wrote in a letter to the tenants of the former campground who are being evicted. "Unfortunately, Aspen Skiing Co.'s housing needs, combined with the valley-wide employee-housing crisis, demand this course of action."

The company is buying the tiny houses from Sprout Tiny Homes. That company also has plans for a tiny home community development in Salida. They have not broken ground in that community yet.

Matt Kroschel covers news throughout Colorado working from the CBS4 Mountain Newsroom. Send story ideas to mrkroschel@cbs.com and connect with him on Twitter @Matt_Kroschel.

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