The corner of 18th and Franklin in Denver’s City Park West neighborhood is looking different for the first time in a century.
The Empowerment Program, a local nonprofit, has demolished the 1920s apartment building and an older duplex at 1767 and 1777 Franklin St. In its place, the organization will construct a 7-story, 70-unit complex, with all of its units dedicated to people who were recently homeless and have a “disabling condition.”
“We’ve been operating that as low-income housing for quite some time and pushed that building to its limits. … Rehabbing was not an option. This makes a lot more units there, the 70, versus what we had before,” said Julie Kiehl, executive director of The Empowerment Program.
The previous buildings had about 20 units and have been owned by the nonprofit for decades, according to Kiehl. Demolition kicked off in November, and construction should wrap up in about a year and a half.
The Colorado Housing and Finance Authority awarded the development $2.2 million in state and federal tax credits in late 2023, which the nonprofit sold to raise equity for the project. Last spring, it was awarded a 60-year, interest-free $3.2 million loan from Denver’s Homeless Resolution Fund to help pay for demolition and construction.
Kiehl said the total price tag on the development will be a little over $36 million. All units will be tied to a housing voucher to help subsidize rents capped at 30% of the area median income. Vocational, mental health and general social services will be provided to residents.
“Housing is a huge part of what we do at Empowerment, because without safe and stable housing, our other services are very difficult or impossible to engage with,” she added.
The Empowerment Program was founded in 1985 and describes itself as a mental health and drug treatment program, owning and operating about 200 apartments throughout the metro area. It recently partnered with income-restricted developer Delwest to complete a 50-unit apartment complex on the former site of Commerce City’s Greyhound Park.
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