The Denver City Council approved two bills Monday that will provide $27,425,000 to fund two new affordable housing complexes within the city.
The first bill designated up to $15,425,000 for the construction of The Rose on Colfax, an 82-unit complex for tenants who make 70% or below the area median income. That is an annual income of $51,352 or less for one person, according to city data.
The complex will be constructed at 8315 E. Colfax Ave., the former site of the East Colfax neighborhood’s last strip club PT’s All Nude II, previously known as Saturdays.
The strip club closed in 2017 after the property was purchased by the city for $1.3 million in an effort to revive the area. The club was infamously the site of a 2015 murder in which one patron fatally shot another for touching his shoulders.
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The complex will be a five-story, 119,000-square-foot building with 30 one-bedrooms, 28 two-bedrooms, 22 three-bedrooms and two four-bedroom apartments.
“I am so excited about this moving forward,” said Councilman Chris Herndon. “As we talk about supporting those with the greatest need, we need to have more of these larger sizes.”
Of the 82 apartments, 16 will be reserved for tenants making 30% or less of the area median income; five for 31% to 40%; 10 for 41% to 50%; 31 for 51% to 60%; and 14 for 61% to 70%.
The building will have an Early Childhood Education center, providing care for newborns to preschool-aged children, city officials said. The complex will also have on-site behavioral health services, financial literacy, job training, resume assistance, health food education and after school and youth programming.
The second bill provided up to $9 million in tax-exempt bonds and up to $3 million in taxable bonds for the construction of Rhonda’s Place, an apartment complex aimed to house residents experiencing homelessness.
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Rhonda’s Place will be a 49-unit complex at 211 S. Federal Blvd. comprised of one-bedroom, one-bathroom units reserved for residents who make 30% or below the area median income — just over $22,000 for one person, according to city data.
The monthly rent will be $1,238 for each apartment; however, residents will pay no more than 30% of their adjusted gross income to rent, with the rest covered by project-based vouchers, city officials said.
Rhonda’s Place will provide residents with on-site addiction recovery services, case management, nurse practitioner visits, education programs, benefits assistance, psychiatry appointments and transportation to grocery stores and doctor visits.
Construction on both of the complexes is expected to begin in October. City officials estimate The Rose on Colfax will open in February 2023 and Rhonda’s Place will open in December 2022.
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