Financing

The Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) program is one of the tools the City and County of Denver can use to revitalize distressed communities. CDBG funds are awarded by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.  Any activity undertaken using CDBG funds must meet one of the program's three national objectives:

• Benefit low and moderate income persons.
• Prevent or eliminate slums or blight.
• Address conditions that present a serious and immediate threat to the health and safety of the community.

Brownfields redevelopment activities are eligible uses for CDBG funds.

For information about the use of Community Development Block Grants for environmental clean-up contact:

John-Michael Hill
john-michael.hill@denvergov.org
720-913-1611

The Section 108 Loan Guarantee Program (Section 108) provides Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) recipients with the ability to leverage their annual grant allocation to access low-cost, flexible financing for economic development, housing, public facility, and infrastructure projects. Communities can use Section 108 guaranteed loans to either finance specific projects or to launch loan funds to finance multiple projects over several years.

Section 108's unique flexibility and range of applications makes it one of the most potent and important public investment tools that HUD offers to state and local governments. It is often used to catalyze private economic activity in underserved areas in cities and counties across the nation or to fill a financing gap in an important community project. The program's flexible repayment terms also make it ideal for layering with other sources of community and economic development financing including, but not limited to, New Markets Tax Credits (NMTC), Low Income Housing Tax Credits (LIHTC), and Opportunity Zone equity investments.

New Market Tax Credits (NMTC) promote economic development in rural and urban low-income communities by increasing the amount of investment capital available. The City and County of Denver, in partnership with the Colorado Housing and Finance Authority and the Colorado Enterprise Fund, offers New Markets Tax Credit financing through the Colorado Growth and Revitalization (CGR) Fund, a community development entity. Since 2005, the CGR Fund has used $75 million NMTCs to help finance projects in underserved communities throughout Colorado.

Colorado Brownfields Revolving Loan Fund offers financing with reduced interest rates, flexible loan terms, and flexibility in acceptable forms of collateral. All cleanups financed through the fund must have previous approval under the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment's Voluntary Cleanup Program. The City of Denver is a loan fund board member.

Tax credit

Senate Bill 14-073 reinstated the Colorado Brownfields tax credit for qualifying entities that perform environmental remediation associated with capital improvements or redevelopment projects.

• State Brownfields tax credit notification requirements
• Voluntary cleanup and no action determination application format
• Brownfields tax credit notifications
  
  

House Bill 22-1392 allows affordable housing projects to receive the state property tax exemptions for an extended period of 30 years (previously 15) to match federal law. It also extends the tax credit expiration date (now January 1, 2025), increases the annual total cap, and makes it easier for a qualified entity to apply.

Grants

Colorado also offers grants for cleaning up contaminated land where there is no other federal or state program that can accomplish the cleanup. House Bill 00-1306 provided for limited state authority to use $250,000 annually for such cleanup, which is designed to protect human health and the environment and to enhance the redevelopment potential of these properties for non-profit and governmental entities. The Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment has drafted criteria for use in prioritizing sites for the available cleanup funding.

• Brownfields Cleanup Grant Program

For additional information on any of the above please visit the State of Colorado's Brownfields page.

Tax Increment Financing (TIF) is a method available to support private development projects that are aimed at eliminating symptoms of urban blight. Through the Denver Urban Renewal Authority, TIF has helped finance a number of projects, such as the Stapleton redevelopment, Dahlia Square Shopping Center, and the Pepsi Center site. TIF allows the Denver Urban Renewal Authority to issue and repay redevelopment bonds by using the increment of increased taxes collected within the district after improvements are made.

The Environmental Protection Agency Region 8's Brownfields program provides funds and technical assistance to states, tribes, communities and other stakeholders to clean up and redevelop potentially contaminated lands in the Rocky Mountain region, making it easier for such lands to become vital, functioning parts of their communities. On this site you will find information about Region 8's Brownfields program, including grants, technical tools and resources, the Brownfields Revitalization Act, as well as information on brownfields projects across the country.

The Petroleum Cleanup and Redevelopment Fund (Redevelopment Fund) has been created to support the investigation and cleanup of contamination at abandoned former gas stations and other petroleum storage tank properties that have been unaddressed for decades, mainly because these unregulated former storage tank sites were not eligible for reimbursement from the Petroleum Storage Tank Fund.

The Colorado Department of Labor & Employment, Division of Oil and Public Safety is now accepting applications to the Redevelopment Fund. The division has created a guidebook to assist property owners in understanding the application process and how the fund can assist in reducing the risk and uncertainty that has previously complicated the sale, reuse or redevelopment of their petroleum storage tank properties.