Denver could soon add 50 affordable housing units for seniors
By Robert Davis
Photo Courtesy of City and County of Denver
Denver’s Safety & Homelessness committee tentatively agreed on April 19 to loan $1.25 million to a developer who plans to build 50 affordable housing units for seniors in the Central Park neighborhood.
Known as the St. Stephens Apartments, the new building will serve seniors aged 62 and older who make between $25,000 and $50,000 per year, or 30% to 60% of Denver’s area median income. The four-story building, located at 2189 N. Valentia Street, could include 45 1-bedroom apartments and five 2-bedroom units. It is also located within a tenth of a mile of an RTD bus stop, a half-mile of a medical clinic and grocery store, according to a proposal from the Department of Housing Stability.
Adam Lyons, a lead housing development officer with HOST, told the council that the average rent at St. Stephens will range from about $659 for a 1-bedroom, to nearly $1,200 for a two-bedroom. Groundbreaking is expected to happen in July 2023, and tenants could begin moving in early 2024, Lyons added.
The St. Stephens project is being proposed at a time when many seniors in Denver are facing an increased risk of losing their homes. According to data from the Metro Denver Homeless Initiative, older women are the fastest-growing subpopulation of people experiencing homelessness in Denver.
Jamie Rife, MDHI’s executive director, told the city council on April 12 that more seniors are becoming homeless because inflation and the rising cost of living are significantly impacting people on fixed incomes.
“On a fixed income, you can’t afford to live here,” Rife told the council. “And they're also being pushed further and further away from medical care, support systems, and I think that is just one of the challenges we are facing.”
Last year, the Denver VOICE examined poverty trends in Colorado over the last decade and found that Black and Hispanic seniors experience poverty at two to three times the rate of their white counterparts.
At the same time, living conditions in other senior living facilities have come under increasing scrutiny. In September 2022, 46 apartments at the Thomas Bean Towers flooded and caused widespread water damage. Some residents told KDVR about their concerns for the health and safety of seniors with chronic illnesses who live in the building.
In March 2023, the Arbor View senior apartments in Arvada doubled its rent for some residents and gave them a 30-day notice of the change, according to a report from Denver 7. The apartment complex said the rent increase was due to a rise in employee wages and price inflation from its vendors and suppliers.
To address some of these issues, the loan from Denver City Council also includes a 60-year affordability covenant, which restricts the ability of future building owners to raise the rent.
Similarly, the building will also be “all-electric ready,” according to HOST’s proposal. That means that it will include mechanisms to convert gas-powered water heaters into electric ones. It will also include the structural supports for a roof-mounted solar panel system to help cut down on utility costs.
The full city council still needs to approve the loan before it is finalized. It is expected to appear before the body within the next three weeks.