The Denver Housing Authority and the Colorado Coalition for the Homeless are teaming up on a plan that could reshape a key stretch of northwest Denver, proposing up to 135 income-restricted, supportive family housing units on a long-vacant parcel along Federal Boulevard. The project is billed as permanent, family-focused housing designed to lock in deeply affordable homes in a neighborhood where rents have climbed and long-time residents have felt the squeeze of displacement.
Project site and early work
The roughly 3.78-acre site at 4745 Federal Boulevard, once home to El Padrino restaurant and a Rodeway Inn motel, has now been cleared for new construction, according to city officials. Before that, the Denver Housing Authority leased the property to the City of Denver for short-term shelter operations through 2023, then oversaw environmental abatement and demolition to ready the land for permanent housing. Putting public land into long-term housing use is “critical,” Denver City Council President Amanda Sandoval said in a statement to Mile High CRE.
Delivery and partners
The Colorado Coalition for the Homeless was chosen as the development partner through the Denver Housing Authority’s DHA Delivers for Denver, or D3, permanent supportive housing program and will both design and operate the new campus. As outlined by the Denver Housing Authority, D3 uses its financing to acquire properties for future development partners, and DHA plans to preserve permanent affordability at the Federal Boulevard site through a long-term ground lease. The Coalition already owns and manages multiple income-restricted and supportive properties across Denver, according to its portfolio overview, and it will lead both building design and on-site services for this project, per the Colorado Coalition for the Homeless.
Financing and timeline
The Coalition expects to seek 4% tax credits from the Colorado Housing and Finance Authority in August 2026 and to pursue additional state and federal credits to complete the capital stack. Construction is targeted to begin in late 2027. Under the current plan, every apartment will be income-restricted at or below 60% of the area median income, and at least 40% of the units will be reserved for families earning no more than 30% of AMI. For more project specifics and developer comments, see the initial coverage at Mile High CRE.
Why it matters
Advocates and city officials argue that turning publicly owned parcels into long-term affordable housing can speed the delivery of deeply affordable units in neighborhoods facing gentrification pressure. This Federal Boulevard proposal would add to Denver’s existing pipeline of income-restricted projects. The city’s Department of Housing Stability reports that about 1,100 affordable units with city financing are currently under construction and roughly 1,000 more income-restricted homes are in planning, underscoring ongoing municipal support for building and preserving affordable housing across the city, according to the Denver Department of Housing Stability.
