Denver Funds Another Hotel Purchase to Provide Shelter and Housing
Published on June 20, 2023
The Department of Housing Stability’s strategy of leveraging hotels for homelessness emergency response and affordable housing took another step forward today with the acquisition of a nine-story hotel to convert into long- and short-term housing options for people experiencing or at risk of homelessness.
Denver City Council today approved a $10,420,331 contract with the Colorado Coalition for the Homeless (CCH) to help support its recent acquisition of the Clarion Hotel at 200 W. 48th Ave. The property will provide 108 income-restricted rental studios and 107 single room occupancy rooms to be operated as non-congregate shelter. The property, to be renamed Renewal Village following renovations later this year, is the largest hotel in Denver to be converted into shelter and housing for individuals experiencing homelessness.
“Housing opportunities like Renewal Village make a huge difference in our work to scale up our homelessness response to meet the needs of our community,” Mayor Michael B. Hancock said. “We’re tremendously grateful for the Coalition’s work in bringing forward another key site to help stabilize the lives of those who will be to call it their home.”
The rental studios will be income restricted for individuals who earn no more than 30% or 50% of the area median income. Thanks to an award of state housing vouchers, the project will serve individuals with the lowest incomes and those who potentially have no income at all. State housing vouchers at Renewal Village will ensure that residents pay no more than 30% of their income on rent, even if they have no income.
CCH utilized bridge financing to purchase the property in December 2022. The city contract will help pay off the bridge financing and ensures the site will provide shelter and/or housing for at least 60 years. The contract is funded by HOME Investment Partnership Program – American Rescue Plan (HOME-ARP) funds provided by the U.S. Department of Housing & Urban Development.
“Through the conversion of Fusion Studios in 2019, we learned that we can bring housing resources to those that need them most at lower cost and in less time than it would take to build from the ground up,” said Cathy Alderman, Chief Communications and Public Policy Officer for the Colorado Coalition for the Homeless. “We are honored to be able to partner with the city, state, and federal government to provide these critical and life-saving resources to our unhoused community members.”
The Clarion Hotel acquisition is the latest example of how HOST is investing in hotel/motel properties to support homelessness resolution and affordability. Other recent examples include:
- HOST provided $5 million in ARPA funding to support the Colorado Coalition for the Homeless’ acquisition of a former La Quinta Inn to continue providing shelter and future redevelopment into approximately 200 units of supportive housing.
- HOST is providing $9 million to acquire a northeast Denver hotel site for conversion into supportive housing.
- HOST provided $983,456 to The Fax Partnership to acquire two East Colfax motels for family sheltering and future redevelopment into affordable housing.