Drive up Twin Buttes Avenue in west Durango and you will pass a vacant half-acre lot listed in the low six figures, a spec home under construction with three levels and mountain views, and, a few hundred yards further, a stretch of ground that used to be Animas High School. That last parcel is where the comparison breaks down. It is planned to become 29 townhomes and duplexes.
Both projects sit inside the same subdivision, share the same trail network, and will eventually answer to the same mailing address. But they are not the same product, and treating them as one neighborhood with one price story is where a lot of relocation buyers get their comps wrong.
The Custom-Lot Side Behaves Like You'd Expect
Twin Buttes started as a master-planned, in-city-limits community built around walkability, a working farm stand, and a stated commitment to what its developers call rural urbanism. On the market-rate side, that means buildable lots, ranging from smaller parcels priced around $200,000 up to a newer phase off Tipple Avenue where the largest single-family build sites run up to 42,000 square feet. Home prices across the subdivision have historically spanned from the $500,000s into luxury spec builds well past $1,000,000, priced the way you'd expect any in-town parcel with view corridors to be priced: by lot, by builder, by finish level.
That is the version of Twin Buttes most portal searches surface. It is also only half the plat.
How Lightner Creek Commons Is Priced
The other half is Lightner Creek Commons, a 29-unit development of townhomes and duplexes planned for 271 Twin Buttes Avenue, the former Animas High School site. Twin Buttes of Durango donated roughly 3 acres of that land to the city as part of its affordable housing commitment, and in 2023 the city selected Elevation Community Land Trust, working with Tributary Development and modular builder Fading West, to build on it. The Durango City Council approved the conceptual plan in February 2025, and in January 2026 the city's Community Development Commission recommended the rezoning the project needs before it can break ground.
The Journal reported a target price of $242,208 to $302,759 for two-bedroom townhomes at 100 percent of area median income when the plan was approved in February 2025, with a $100 monthly HOA fee. Those prices were well under what a comparable market-rate two-bedroom would cost in La Plata County. City of Durango documentation on the project describes eligible buyers as households earning between 70 and 120 percent of the area median income.
Where the Money for the Affordable Side Actually Comes From
As part of the January 2026 rezoning agreement, the city committed $616,000 collected from Twin Buttes transfer fees toward getting the project built, on top of the donated land itself.
Here is how the two tracks compare side by side:
| Market-rate Twin Buttes | Lightner Creek Commons | |
|---|---|---|
| Recent price range | $200K (vacant lots) to $1M+ (luxury spec) | Target price: $242,208 to $302,759 (2BR) |
| Eligibility | Open market | Household income 70 to 120 percent AMI |
What This Means If You're Comparing West Durango Prices
If you are researching West Durango and Twin Buttes comes up as a neighborhood to consider, the pricing you find on a portal search is going to reflect the market-rate side almost exclusively, because the land trust units are not marketed the same way. That is useful to know in both directions.
If you are comparison shopping at market rate, do not expect a nearby Lightner Creek Commons closing to function as a comp for your appraisal or your own resale math. It is a structurally different transaction.
If you are the kind of buyer who might actually qualify for the land trust program, the calculation is different again. You are considering a lower entry price and a monthly HOA fee in a subdivision that otherwise commands market-rate premiums for its trails, farm stand, and proximity to downtown. That is a real tradeoff worth considering before you decide whether to pursue the program.
Either way, the lesson holds for west Durango more broadly. A subdivision's median price is not always one number. Sometimes it is two different pricing tracks sharing a mailing address, and knowing which one applies matters.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I still buy a custom lot in Twin Buttes? Yes. The market-rate side of the subdivision, including the newer phase off Tipple Avenue with build-ready lots up to 42,000 square feet, continues to sell independently of the affordable housing project. The two tracks operate on separate timelines and separate sales processes.
If you are trying to figure out which side of a neighborhood's pricing story actually applies to the property you are looking at, that is exactly the kind of question worth a conversation before you write an offer. LiveInDurango works these submarkets closely enough to tell you which comps are real and which ones only look like it. Start your move: request a home valuation and let's talk about what West Durango actually costs right now.
This article is general information, not legal, tax or financial advice. Consult a qualified professional about your situation.
