Affordable Housing TOD Planned for Denver
Denver--The Urban Land Conservancy has bought land along Denver's FasTracks Southwest light-rail corridor to develop an affordable, mixed-use transit-oriented development called Evans Station Lofts.
Denver–The Urban Land Conservancy (ULC) has bought land along Denver’s FasTracks Southwest light-rail corridor to develop an affordable, mixed-use transit-oriented development called Evans Station Lofts. The cost for the site, which is directly across from the Evans Light Rail Station, was $1.19 million, paid using Denver’s Transit-Oriented Development Fund.
The fund was set up specifically for acquiring and preserving land for workforce housing near existing or future light-rail stops and high-frequency bus routes. It’s financed in part by the city of Denver and county of Denver, as well as Enterprise Community Partners, who is also the administrator of the fund.
Evans Station Lofts will be a five-story development that will include 50 residential workforce units and 7,100 square feet of retail and commercial space. This project will be the first low-income housing tax credit project at an existing light-rail station along FasTracks and will serve households with incomes ranging from 30 percent to 60 percent of the area median income.
“With the extensive expansion of light rail and commuter rail in Denver, people understand the value of transit-oriented development, and the economic benefits of developments like Evans Station Lofts,” Debra Bustos, director of real estate at ULC, tells MHN. “This neighborhood has little affordable housing, so these homes will allow for low-income families to have better access to jobs and services, save on transportation costs, and reduce their carbon footprint.”
ULC is partnering with affordable housing developer Medici Communities L.L.C., who was recently awarded a little more than $1 million in annual LIHTCs from Colorado Housing and Finance Authority for the project. Lakewood, Colo.-based Medici has previously partnered with numerous other nonprofits and public agencies in Colorado to develop affordable housing, including Volunteers of America, Payne Chapel AME Church Housing Corp., the Aurora Housing Authority and the cities of Aurora and Denver.
