Westwood gets a≠ordable housing, Mi Casa

An affordable-housing development that will house a prominent Denver nonprofit broke ground Tuesday in the Westwood neighborhood.

The $15 million Terraza del Sol project — developed by Gorman and Company — will bring 42 units of affordable housing to 3116 W. Alameda Ave. The ground floor will serve as the new organizational headquarters of the Mi Casa Resource Center and include the organization’s Family Economic Education Center.

Mi Casa has served the Latino community in the Denver metro area for the past 40 years; the education center will offer services ranging from legal consultation and entrepreneurial training to GED test preparation and computer literacy classes.

“Residents are not just facing affordability, but access to good quality jobs and education and training,” City Councilman Paul Lopez said. “This project brings both together.”

Mi Casa will sell its current headquarters at 360 Acoma St. The new building should be ready in the fall of 2016.

“This is where we need to be,” Mi Casa CEO and executive director Christine Marquez-Hudson said. “This facility will serve not just families living overhead, but the entire area. I think this is a facility we envision being a catalyst for the community.”

The 42 units will provide energy-efficient one-, twoand three-bedroom apartments that are available to people earning between 30 and 60 percent of the area median income. That translates to between $23,000 and $46,020 per year.

Monthly rents will range from $382 for one bedroom to $733 for three bedrooms. Other amenities at the development include a fitness room, indoor bike storage, media room, outdoor terrace and community room.

The project is financed by Colorado Housing and Finance Authority, Colorado Department of Local Affairs, Denver Office of Economic Development, Denver Urban Renewal Authority, Citibank, and Enterprise Community Partners Inc. The building was designed by Shopworks Architecture.