The city would start leasing the complex through its Department of Housing Stability (HOST) on Sept. 1.
I think using the whole building for low income or homeless housing is a mistake. It’s going to turn to shit. What they need to do is sprinkle low income families in amongst medium income residents.
This has the added benefit of providing some income to the program and increasing social mobility.
That’s worked well in Vienna and Manhattan’s Lower East Side.
There’s 1,300 unsheltered homeless people in Denver. This hotel has near 200 rooms. With space in each room for multiple residents, this can put a major dent into the amount of homeless on the street if it’s used exclusively for that purpose. Plus, other homeless shelters in the Denver/Boulder area are spread crazy thin as it is. It’ll take a massive effort to keep it from going downhill but I think it can be done.
I like what you’re proposing, but I think this idea is just addressing a different goal. Plus there are probably better places than a hotel to integrate homeless into low/medium income society.
We’ve experienced this where I am, and I agree. Mixed demographic high density is necessary to prevent the stigmatisation that comes from living in designated ghettos.
It does look like they’re thinking about these things to sone degree though, thankfully:
40% of the units designated for tenants earning 30% of the Denver area’s median income.
I am very happy that there are efforts to help the homeless though. I hope it is to help, and not just hide away.
I’m personally a fan of Singapore’s rules which make 5% of all new development social housing.
It has been pretty successful in my county. The county bought up around seven hotels to house the homeless. Several hundred homeless are housed until they can find more permanent housing.
Too Few of those programs exist. However, I’ve heard they are very competitive and make people jump through lots of hoops.
There’s also waiting lists a mile long in most cases.
One hundred ninety-three of the units would be used for housing low-income people, with 40% of the units designated for tenants earning 30% of the Denver area’s median income.
Now we wait for the neighbors pour in against it.
You’re not wrong. One of my old workplaces got demolished to make way for mixed demographic housing, but directly above it (the complex was at the bottom of a cliff) was a McMansion subdivision. Now the apartments going up aren’t planned to cost less than $3k when all the apartments around it cost less than $1k.
I always wonder how well these conversions work. Do they add a kitchen and call it a studio apartment?
You would not necessarily need that. There could be a communal kitchen or a cafeteria. This is not meant to be permanent housing
If I lived within a 1/2 mile of that place I would sell now…
This hotel is in an industrial area. There are no houses close to it. The closest houses are in northfield/Central Park, which are all 1mil+
If you live anywhere even remotely urban, you’re already likely near a homeless person.
