507 Acoma Street
Shanahan Development is moving toward construction on a 70-unit affordable for-sale condominium project at 507 Acoma Street in Denver's Baker neighborhood, with foundation excavation plans and architectural specs now filed with the city on a site currently known in public records as 155 W 5th Avenue, a former Denver Health parking lot that sat underutilized for years.
The project is being developed in coordination with Elevation Community Land Trust (ECLT), which will hold the land under a 99-year ground lease, a structure designed to keep the units permanently affordable as they are resold over time. Shanahan acquired the 1.1-acre corner parcel from Denver Health for $5 million and received a $5.6 million loan transfer from the city, originally issued to a prior Shanahan project at 1530 W. 13th Ave. in Lincoln Park that never broke ground, now redirected to this development under terms approved by Denver City Council in mid-2025. The for-sale units will target households earning no more than 80% of area median income.
KTGY, the Denver-based architecture and planning firm behind Aura Arts District and Fellow at Fitz in Aurora, is the architect of record. Brinkmann Constructors is the general contractor. Per excavation and foundation plans filed with the city, the structure sits at the corner of N. Acoma St. and W. 5th Ave. with a private alley to the north. Perimeter foundations will be approximately 3 to 3.5 feet deep, and no shoring will be required given the shallow excavation depths and the building's setback from the right of way. Sidewalks adjacent to the property will be removed early in the construction sequence to allow utility work and replaced as part of the project.
Shanahan Development has built a track record specifically in affordable for-sale product, a segment that has historically received far less public subsidy than rental development. The firm's earlier Inca Commons project at 801 W. 6th Ave. in the Santa Fe Arts District, executed with Urban Land Conservancy and ECLT, delivered 86 permanently affordable condominiums at sub-$200,000 price points. Shanahan also won a competitive RTD solicitation for a 62-unit permanently affordable condo project at 29th & Welton for the Hattie Mcdaniel project in Five Points. The 507 Acoma project continues that pattern: urban infill, ground lease structure, and income restrictions in high-opportunity locations.
Denver has increasingly relied on the community land trust model to deliver ownership-track affordability without requiring ongoing municipal subsidy. With plans filed and the city loan in place, 507 Acoma is marks another projects in the pipeline targeting affordable home ownership in a high-demand neighborhood.