Denver Funds Hotel Purchase for Shelter and Future Supportive Housing
Published on September 26, 2022
$5 million in ARPA funding approved for acquisition of former La Quinta Inn
Thanks to American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funding, a hotel that has served as a key element of Denver’s COVID-19 homelessness emergency response will continue to provide shelter, and eventually supportive housing, for decades to come.
Denver City Council today approved a $5 million ARPA contract with the Colorado Coalition for the Homeless (CCH) to help support its recent acquisition of the former La Quinta Inn located at 3500 Park Avenue West. The hotel has provided 103 rooms of non-congregate shelter to persons experiencing homelessness since April 2020. Plans call for the site to continue providing shelter through at least 2024, with a long-term vision to redevelop the site into approximately 200 units of supportive housing.
“Leveraging hotel sites like this is paramount to creating more housing for our unhoused neighbors,” said Denver Mayor Michael B. Hancock. “This investment clearly underscores ARPA’s ability for communities to create one-time transformational change. We’re grateful for the Coalition’s work in bringing this sheltering and housing site forward.”
CCH utilized bridge financing to purchase the property in December 2021. The new contract with Denver’s Department of Housing Stability (HOST) will help pay off the bridge financing and ensures the site will provide shelter and/or housing for at least 60 years.
“Motel and hotel sites have been a lifeline for people experiencing homelessness in Denver to recover from COVID and to stay in safe protected spaces,” said John Parvensky, President and CEO of the Colorado Coalition for the Homeless. “We know that these recovery spaces are an ongoing need through this pandemic and for future health care needs. As the emergency winds down, we hope to convert the site into desperately needed affordable and supportive housing over the next few years to serve our unhoused community.”
Future redevelopment of the site will help support HOST’s Five-Year Strategic Plan goal of producing 900 supportive housing units across several sites.
Denver’s plan for recovery includes direct distribution of $308 million in ARPA Local Relief Funds. Denver offers a dashboard to show precisely how ARPA funds are being deployed to support the Mayor’s priority of Rebuilding for an Inclusive and Sustainable Economy (RISE). Denver solicited and received feedback from over 12,000 residents, Denver City Council, city agencies, the Mayor’s Stimulus Advisory Committee, and the Mayor’s Economic Recovery Council to inform the use of the city’s first round of ARPA funds. Federal law requires distribution of the funds by 2026.