Shelter addition gains approval

A shelter for homeless teens south of downtown Denver can rise four additional stories to include more emergency beds as well as longer-term housing, thanks to a zoning change by Denver City Council and despite opposition from neighbors.

Urban Peak, which serves youths ages 15 to 24, runs a 40-bed shelter at 1630 S. Acoma St. with bunk-bed dorm rooms and three meals each day. The nonprofit asked for the zoning change from Denver City Council to expand to a fivestory building that would include staff offices, as well as transitional, collegestyle housing as a step between shelter and apartment living.

Also, the top three floors of the building would include up to 60 apartments for youths ready to live on their own after spending time in the first-floor shelter, said Christina Carlson, chief executive of Urban Peak. The previous zoning for the building did not allow for apartments.

At five stories, the shelter would become one of the tallest buildings in the vicinity, which is why it sparked opposition from the Platt Park People’s Association and other residents. The new zoning was approved by Denver City Council last week, 11-0.

Shop Works Architecture is working on the redesign for the 25,000-square-foot building, which is receiving funding through donations. During the rebuild, Urban Peak plans to find housing at other nonprofit shelters throughout the city. The project includes underground parking, though most youth in the shelter don’t have cars and use nearby bus and light-rail access.

Now that the site has been rezoned, work will begin on a capital funding plan as well as a project timeline, Carlson said. “We are excited to enter this next phase of the project and achieve our ambitious vision that will allow Urban Peak, and our entire community, to continue to serve our most vulnerable population,” she said Monday.

Urban Peak has an emergency day shelter in downtown Denver, an outreach program for youths living on the street and 110 apartments in three buildings where rent is based on youths’ ability to pay.

David Jennings, an Urban Peak employee who was helped by the organization as a teenager, urged the council to approve the rezoning. “A safe place to stay, meals to eat, a place to shower and wash my clothes was the beginning of my new life,” he told council members in asking for new zoning rules. “If it wasn’t for Urban Peak … I wouldn’t be here today.”

Neighborhood resident Michael Berman was among those who opposed the reconstruction. “I’m very much in support of Urban Peak,” he said. “I’m simply opposed to a five-story building. I think it just sets a precedent in that area.”