A plot of land at 1310–1380 Yosemite Street in Aurora once slated for luxury townhomes starting at $600,000 is now headed toward a very different future. The East Colfax Community Collective has received a $2.8 million grant from a state affordable housing fund to acquire the 1.34-acre Ambience site and turn it into affordable housing and a community space, with the project expected to bring 152 housing units.
The turnaround is notable because the collective spent years fighting the very development it now controls. According to Sentinel Colorado, the group protested against the plans for a few years because of concerns over displacement before the grant allowed it to buy the land outright. Sentinel Colorado describes the earlier proposal as luxury townhomes starting at $600,000, while Westword has characterized the same site as a plan for 44 luxury condominiums starting at $600,000 with no affordable housing included. City of Aurora Planning and Zoning Commission minutes from April 2022 describe an application for 44 multifamily units within three buildings on the 1.3-acre property at the southeast corner of Yosemite Street and 14th Avenue, with the applicant indicating units would likely start around $600,000; that commission voted unanimously to approve the site plan, subject to resolving outstanding technical issues before recordation and building permits.
A Full Circle Moment on Yosemite Street
In comments tied to the grant announcement, Jamie Laurie said the collective taking over the Ambience site is a full circle moment, per the release cited by the Sentinel Colorado report. The collective has said it will work closely with community members over the next few years to define the most important needs for the area and advance a project that addresses them, framing the acquisition as a way of bringing the block under community control to prevent displacement, establish long-term affordability, and align development with community needs.
The Ambience purchase is not the collective's only recent move in the neighborhood. Through its East Colfax MINT initiative, the group purchased a 14-unit building at 1321 Yosemite Street that it plans to preserve as naturally occurring affordable housing, the same report notes. That acquisition builds on the MINT's first purchase, a Denver apartment building at 1371 Xenia Street bought in 2024, with the MINT portfolio now including 96 units total.
Edge at Lowry Rehab Still Hinges on Tax Credits
The collective also announced earlier in 2026 that it had purchased the Edge at Lowry apartment building, a complex that includes 60 units across five buildings, and planned to invest $10 million to $12 million to renovate it down to the studs and install new units. The property drew unwanted national attention after President Donald Trump made unsubstantiated claims that Venezuelan gangs had taken over the Edge at Lowry. As of mid-2026, the collective was gathering funding and applying for tax credits for the rebuild; Carson Bryant, a director for the East Colfax Community Collective, said the rehabilitation depends on successfully obtaining those tax credits.
Aurora's Affordability Math Is Daunting
The Ambience project lands against a backdrop of steep housing pressure across Aurora. Rent in the city increased 122% between 2010 and 2024, a steeper climb than the statewide trend, according to Colorado Politics. Martin Petrov of the Aurora Housing Authority has said the city needs about 12,000 affordable housing units, even as Aurora's own commitment of 550 affordable units per year, or 1,650 over three years, was running roughly 200 units short at the latest count.
That shortfall comes as state funding support has grown shakier. Colorado Politics reports that state lawmakers shifted money away from affordable housing projects and into the general fund to address a budget shortfall. Separately, an analysis by The Colorado Sun found that only 20 of the 11,000 homes Proposition 123 has helped fund so far qualify as preservation of existing affordable rental units, while the state is projected to lose 24,000 affordable units over the next 15 years.
A snippet from a Colorado Office of Economic Development and International Trade press release lists the East Colfax Community Collective's award as $2.82 million supporting 152 multifamily rental units ranging from 30% to 60% of area median income, though that figure is drawn from limited available excerpt-level information and has not been confirmed against the state's complete release. Elsewhere in East Colfax, opposition to new development has continued: a separate Grand Avenue proposal called for 53 townhomes priced between $500,000 and $600,000, according to Westword's coverage of nearby resident pushback.
