On Tuesday, the Denver City Council voted to accept a contract with the Colorado Coalition for the Homeless worth a total of $10.4 million. This contract will help fund the conversion of the city’s largest hotel into housing and shelter to date. The city’s Department of Housing Stability stated in a news release that the deal will pay off the bridge financing that the city used to purchase the Clarion Hotel in December 2022. Additionally, the contract will “(ensure) the site will provide shelter and/or housing for at least 60 years,” according to the statement.
The project is being supported with money from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. According to comments made by the Mayor of Denver, Michael Hancock, in a news release, “Housing opportunities like Renewal Village make a huge difference in our work to scale up our homeless response to meet the needs of our community.” “We are indebted to the Coalition for their work in bringing forward another key site to assist in the stabilization of the lives of those who will be calling it their home,”
The nine-story hotel was purchased by the Department of Housing Stability in order to provide 108 income-restricted rental studios and 107 single occupancy rooms for use as space for non-congregate refuge. Renewal Village is going to be the new name for the location at 200 West 48th Avenue. The remodeling is scheduled to take place later on this year. People with restricted incomes who make no more than 30 or 50 percent of the area’s median income will be eligible to rent studio apartments at the reduced rates. According to the press release, the site will be able to serve persons with the lowest income levels as well as those who do not have an income thanks to state vouchers. People who are given vouchers will not have to pay a rent that is greater than thirty percent of their whole income.
The most recent funding comes in the wake of previous investments in hotel conversion projects that aim to provide “supportive” accommodation and shelter for families. In addition, the city department has used ARPA funds totaling $5 million to support the coalition’s acquisition of a former La Quinta Inn in order to provide 200 units of supportive housing. Another $9 million has been spent to acquire a hotel in northeast Denver. Additionally, HOST contributed $983,465 toward the purchase of two motels by The Fax Partnership in order to provide family shelter and affordable housing.
“Through the conversion of Fusion Studios in 2019, we learned that we can bring housing resources to those that need them most at a lower cost and in less time than it would take to build from the ground up,” Cathy Alderman, Chief Communications and Public Policy Officer for the Colorado Coalition for the Homeless, said in the news release. “We learned that we can bring housing resources to those that need them most at a lower cost and in less time than it would take to build from the ground up.”
