The Apartment Association of Metro Denver, the Home Builders Association of Metropolitan Denver, and many individual developers vehemently oppose the proposal.

''I have three fundamental objections,'' Bill Mosher, principal of Mile High Properties tells GlobeSt.com.

''First, I do not think the affordable housing issue should solely rest on the backs of people buying market rent units,'' Mosher tells GlobeSt.com. ''If you have a 100-unit project and 10% of them have to be subsidized, that means the other 90 buyers will make up the difference. The developers aren't going to make less. Investors' internal rate of return will be the same. It's going to increase the price of the other unit. And it could be substantial, as much as $10,000 or $20,000 per unit.''

Also, it's not a good deal for buyers, because there are limits on appreciation, he contends.

A young person trying to build equity is better off buying in a dicey neighborhood and waiting for appreciation, he says.

''Lo and behold, there are hundreds of units in the same price range available that aren't being subsidized,'' he says.

Also, he says the proposal creates another city bureaucracy to police the sales.

''I don't think it's a good idea to put the city in the middle of deals,'' which aren't receiving city funds, he tells GlobeSt.com.

And while families earning up to $55,000 can qualify under the program, Mosher says it's not going to help them.

''This doesn't do anything for the single mother of four working in a hotel,'' Mosher tells GlobeSt.com.

City Councilwoman Susan Barnes-Gelt, a chief architect of the proposal, argues the proposal is a good first step in a city where many working people are being priced out of houses. She doesn't believe the dire consequences that opponents claim will come to pass. And, she notes, if it doesn't work, the city will re-evaluate it in two years.

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