Denver Urban Renewal Authority
About Us
From renovating a single house to helping build a whole new neighborhood, DURA engages in a broad range of community revitalization activities. Those activities have included providing $498 million in financing for 25 redevelopment projects during the past decade and rehabilitating 15,000 single-family homes since 1975.
DURA was created by the city in 1958. For most of its early history, it was primarily involved in federally financed razing of slums and site preparation. But since the modification of the Colorado Urban Renewal Law to add tax increment financing (TIF) provisions, DURA has been able to provide critical support for redevelopment projects that otherwise wouldn’t have been economically viable. For an explanation of how TIF works, click Financing Urban Renewal.
The second major role that DURA plays is in housing rehabilitation. It administers two programs for the city’s Housing and Neighborhood Development Services division, providing financial help to qualified homeowners who need to renovate their homes or make emergency repairs.