Denver developer plans 15-unit mixed-use project in Villa Park neighborhood

Niles Emerick is looking to squeeze 15 new residences and a little retail where a single-family home currently stands.

“It is still very preliminary, but we want to understand how many units we can actually fit in there with the updates to parking, the modernized parking requirements,” Emerick said, referencing Denver’s recent ordinance eliminating parking minimums.

Emerick submitted plans to Denver last month for a mixed-use development on an 0.29-acre lot at 992 Knox Court in Denver’s Villa Park neighborhood.

A small 920-square-foot retail operation for the corner of 10th Avenue and Knox is planned, with a pair of apartments above it. A coffee shop or bagel joint is contemplated for the space, which would complement the existing retail on the north side of the intersection.

Townhomes would front the streets with “loft-style two-level” buildings in between and in the rear, designed for someone to have a shop and a home all in one space. Emerick hopes to have some of the units be for sale, too. In total, the residences will span about 13,300 square feet, with a courtyard in the middle of the lot.

“There is just a need for more variety for more housing options, especially in that part of the neighborhood,” he said.

The plans have been in the works for nearly a decade. Emerick purchased the lot in 2016 for $315,000, records show. Longtime Villa Park residents will recall it as the house prominently advertising mountain land for sale.

“I had been living in the area, just across the tracks at 12th and Quitman, so I drove by that property all the time,” Emerick said. Every time I drove by it, I thought, ‘Gosh this could be such an important piece of the neighborhood.’”

The previous owners were longtime residents. They passed away and their kids took control of the property. Emerick first connected with them at a yard sale out front.

He began planning the site’s future almost immediately after purchasing it, conducting neighborhood meetings and working with the city on incorporating the lot into its West Area Plan.

But everything came to a halt during the pandemic.

“That put a long pause on things,” Emerick said.

In the years after 2020, he returned to the drawing board, finally signing an agreement with Denver’s Department of Housing and Sustainability earlier this year that income-restrict at least 10% of the units onsite.