An affordable housing development in Denver could move forward if a proposed zoning change is approved.
Medici Communities and the Urban Land Conservancy seek a zoning modification to make their 63-unit income-restricted apartment project in the Cole neighborhood a reality, The Denver Post reported. The Denver Planning Board will review the rezoning application on July 16.
The development is planned for a 2.3-acre site at 1675 East 35th Avenue next door to the Tramway Nonprofit Center, a 1930s tram and bus depot occupying most of the block. The Urban Land Conservancy bought the land on the block in 2007 for $2.5 million.
The nonprofit center and the community activity surrounding it attracted the developers to the site.
“Being so close to downtown and being so close to Five Points and the River North Art District, Cole is gentrifying quickly,” Andrea Burns, a spokesperson for the Urban Land Conservancy, told the Post. “When you realize the after-school programs that are happening there that are all free for kids from the Cole neighborhood, there’s no doubt that there is a need for more affordable housing in this place.”
The planned location for the building is currently a concrete slab and has been empty for years. In 2018, the conservancy demolished an old building to clear the way for new development, floating a condo for the site in 2020. Zoning issues became a hurdle for the project, as the property is under outdated code.
“The city’s old zoning code, and the complexities and obstacles related to that zoning, made it very difficult. So, this is a restart,” Burns said. The new custom zoning that Medici and the Urban Land Conservancy applied for will allow for the construction of the residential building while protecting the tramway building next door from development.
Local philanthropist Chuck Phillips owned the block before selling it to the conservancy in 2007. Phillips’ family trust also owns the Wyatt Academy public charter school a block north.
“We have really felt an imperative, as part of our mission, to try to deliver affordable housing here, also knowing that that was what Chuck Phillips wanted to do, and he wasn’t able to do it in his lifetime,” Burns said.
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