901 Navajo Street

Last week, the Denver Planning Board recommended approval to rezone 901 Navajo Street from I-A (light industrial) to C-MX-8(Commercial mixed-use 8 stories).

901 Navajo Street currently consist of a 63 year old 10,109 square foot industrial building situated on a 0.22 acre parcel.

The building was acquired by the Denver Housing Authority in October of 2020 for $3,207,600. The industrial building is a missing piece to the Mariposa master planned community that has been developed on adjacent parcels over the past few years.

With a zoning change, the DHA will be permitted to construct an 8 story mixed-use building with a maximum of 150 supportive and affordable housing units, with 40% of the units restricted at 30% of area median income. The project also proposes ground floor community serving commercial space.

The DHA purchased the property as part of the D3 Supportive Housing Land Acquisition Program, which is designed to accelerate the development of affordable housing units over the next 5 years by leveraging a portion of the city's affordable housing funds.

Through the D3 Program, at least 40% of units must be operated as Supportive Housing or housing for residents earning below 30% of the Area Median Income and the parcel must be restricted as affordable in perpetuity.

As part of the rezoning process, the DHA intends to issue a request for a development partner to operate and build the supportive housing, while remaining the long-term landowner of the site.

With every building proposal, there comes opposition. Various members of the community and next door neighbors of the property voiced concerns over the building height and available parking.

A large concern was that the development would bring an overwhelming percentage of affordable units to the area. We thought this concern was strange considering the neighborhood was previously a housing project and the Mariposa community that the concerned residents live in was intended to be a mixed-income community that provides a large number of affordable units.

The development process is still in the infant stages, so we'll check back with any updates or when renderings are released!

Click here to learn more about the D3 Bond program!