Plan for affordable housing project raises questions

One of the metro area’s largest affordable housing projects — a proposed 500- to 600-unit, lowincome complex slated for 59 acres of federally owned land in Lakewood — could take another step toward reality this month as federal officials mull a homeless advocacy group’s plan for the site.

But some in the city are asking whether such a high concentration of housing geared solely at individuals and families in unstable life situations is the best use of vacant ground abutting the W-Line light-rail stop near the Federal Center, even as home prices in the metro area continue to rise to new highs.

“I think there needs to be a lot more community input and engagement on what would be the highest and best use of that land,” said Lakewood Councilwoman Ramey Johnson, who represents the part of the city where the parcel sits. “People are sensitive to issues with the homeless, but they also have honest questions about transportation and congestion.”

Not to mention the security and safety of those living at the new site and of residents in adjoining neighborhoods, Johnson said.

Mayor Adam Paul said a community with more diverse housing, along with office and retail uses, would be a “bold, first-of-its-kind development” that could mimic the success the city has seen with its overhaul efforts at Belmar in the past decade.

“I believe this property is better suited for a mix of incomes (homeless, affordable, market-rate and for-sale condos) and uses such as offices, primary jobs, stores and businesses with great community amenities, including parks, that would benefit all in the community,” Paul said.

Auction challenged

But attempts to auction the 59acre parcel, which sits at the corner of West Sixth Avenue and Simms Street, to private developers was challenged in court last year by the Colorado Coalition for the Homeless. The nonprofit argued that the McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act of 1987 gives homeless agencies the right of first refusal when surplus federal properties are sold.

A judge agreed with the coalition on Aug. 8 and ordered the federal government to refrain from immediately selling the property.

An earlier attempt by the federal government to transfer the land to Lakewood through a unique “lab-for-land” swap fizzled out in early 2016 when the city took too long to respond to the government’s offer. That plan envisioned a mixed-used development centered on the nearby W-Line’s Denver Federal Center Station.

The Colorado Coalition for the Homeless is in the midst of submitting a plan to the U.S. Department of Health and Hu- man Services that, if approved, would allow it to move forward with its plan at the Federal Center site. A determination from the agency could come as soon as this month.

The coalition would then have several weeks to submit a full plan with financial details to federal officials.

Coalition spokeswoman Cathy Alderman said the need for more affordable units in metro Denver has never been higher. Sluggish home inventory growth and rapidly escalating prices have led to more people shelling out a larger share of income for a roof over their heads. According to a Harvard University study released last month, nearly one in four renters in the metro area spends half or more of their monthly paycheck on housing.

“It would be a slightly more intense housing situation that provides wraparound services for those who aren’t currently housed to stay stably housed,” she said of the Federal Center project. “We all recognize there is a great need for this kind of project.”

In addition to rising home prices, rents have also been on an upward march in and around Denver. Median rates for a onebedroom apartment in Denver hit $1,070 this past summer while two-bedroom units climbed to $1,350. That’s a 3 percent increase over the median rates from August 2016, according to Apartment List.

“Too many people are unhoused and sleeping on the street,” Alderman said.

But she recognizes that neighbors around the Federal Center site have legitimate concerns about too high a concentration of low-income housing in one part of the city and the strain it could put on social services provided by Lakewood and Jefferson County. The coalition wants to see if it can include some diversity in its housing offerings without violating the McKinney-Vento Act.

“We’re having to explore about getting their approval of that as an appropriate use,” Alderman said. “We certainly know that there is a balance here we want to achieve.”

It’s a balance that the coalition has largely reached with the 19 other affordable housing projects it oversees in metro Denver, Alderman said, noting the group has had “pretty high success rates in keeping people stably housed.”

Giant undertaking

But the Lakewood project — at a projected $120 million to complete — would be appreciably larger than anything else the coalition, or anyone else for that matter, has undertaken to date. The coalition’s biggest community today is the 180unit Renaissance 88 Apartments in Thornton.

Thornton’s neighborhood services manager, Nicole Jeffers, said the Renaissance has had some good and bad. Nearby shops and restaurants have been able to tap a plentiful pool of hourly workers who live in the complex, she said, but police have had to deal with more calls to the complex, especially those involving relatives and friends who don’t live there.

“We know there are homeless individuals living along the fence behind the Renaissance 88 on a vacant property,” Jeffers said.

On the other hand, she said, Thornton recognizes that it needs to be a part of the solution to a problem that is truly regional in nature.

“You’re either going to build housing for people or they’re going to be homeless,” Jeffers said. “These 180 families would be on the street or doubled up with friends and family if Renaissance 88 wasn’t there.”

Lakewood Councilman Charley Able said the question of “if not there, where?” is one he struggles with when it comes to housing the homeless in Colorado’s fifth-largest city. But he’s not sold on the location.

Not only is there the intensity concerns to placing so much lowincome housing on a single site, Able also worries whether the ground has been adequately cleaned after years of environmental contamination. Once home to the Denver Ordnance Plant, the property contains a former landfill that contaminated 15 acres with polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, metals, dioxin/ furans, pesticides and asbestos, the coalition’s lawsuit states.

“I’m concerned about any habitation on the site,” Able said.

Alderman said the coalition plans to refrain from building any residences on the tainted acreage, instead dedicating that portion of the property to construction of a solar garden.