Denver is in critical condition when it comes to providing affordable housing for working families, according to a new study.
The rate of critical housing needs in the metro area increased 162 percent between 1995 and 2004, putting it at the top of the list nationwide, according to a study released Thursday by the Center for Housing Policy, the research affiliate of the National Housing Conference.
“Gentrification over that time period has really been a big issue in the Denver area,” said Maya Brennan, research associate for the center. “It looks like there was a lot of population growth, as well as improvements in the housing stock, without keeping up with the need for affordability.”
From 1997 to 2005, the number of working families with critical housing needs increased 73 percent nationally to 5.2 million.
There are two components defining critical housing needs: paying more than half of a family’s income for housing and/or living in dilapidated conditions.
Nearly 40 million American households meet the study’s definition of working families: those households that work the equivalent of a full-time job and earn at least the annual minimum wage of $10,712 but no more than 120 percent of the median income in their area.
DENVER
Kroenke Sports buys restaurant buildings
Buildings that house restaurants and bars just south of the Pepsi Center on Auraria Parkway have been sold to affiliates of Kroenke Sports Enterprises, which owns the Pepsi Center.
Kroenke Sports spent more that $15 million for the buildings: $6.4 million for the 30,000- square-foot Braun’s building and $8.9 million for Brooklyns and its annex office building next door, for a combined 44,000 square feet.
The deal was handled by Randy Lewis, a broker for commercial brokerage Frederick Ross.
BROOMFIELD
Level 3 CEO has surgery for tumor
James Crowe, chief executive of long-distance phone and data network operator Level 3 Communications, had surgery for a previously disclosed pituitary gland tumor that was benign.
“Mr. Crowe has undergone his scheduled surgery, which was completed without complications,” Level 3 said in a statement Thursday. “It is anticipated that Mr. Crowe will resume his work schedule following a two- to three-week recovery period.”
Kevin O’Hara, president and chief operating officer of Level 3, temporarily assumed the 58-year-old Crowe’s duties this month, company spokesman Josh Howell said.
BRIGHTON
Intertape Polymer to reopen plant
Montreal-based Intertape Polymer Group said Thursday that it will reopen its manufacturing facility in Brighton on Oct. 1.
The company will need 25 employees to run its film line operation, which produces the polypropylene film used to make adhesive tape.
The plant was closed in November as part of a corporate cost-cutting effort that resulted in the termination of 89 employees.
Hiring for the new jobs, which pay $15 to $25 an hour, will begin the first week of September. Almost all positions will be filled with former employees, said Mike Kaumans, director of manufacturing for the company.
DENVER
Grants aid efficiency in affordable housing
Affordable-housing units in downtown Denver will gain increased energy efficiency using a portion of $142,500 in grants from the Xcel Energy Foundation. The funding is part of an overall $262,000 investment in community development statewide.
The grants include $25,000 for the Northeast Denver Housing Center to increase the energy efficiency of 20 affordable housing units in Denver’s Uptown neighborhood.
Other grant recipients are Brothers Redevelopment, $7,500; Center for Work Education and Employment, $5,000; Colorado Nonprofit Association, $5,000; Goodwill Industries of Denver, $10,000; Mercy Housing Colorado, $10,000; Metro Volunteers, $10,000; Mi Casa Resource Center for Women, $5,000; Neighborhood Resource Center of Colorado, $10,000; NEWSED Community Development Corp., $10,000; Seniors Inc., $15,000; Seniors’ Resource Center, $15,000; and Westside Christian Community Builders, $15,000.
WASHINGTON
FCC fines companies over cellphone 911 lag
Sprint Nextel Corp., the third- largest U.S. wireless carrier, faces a $1.3 million penalty for failing to equip enough phones with technology that helps 911 emergency operators find mobile callers.
The Federal Communications Commission fined the company, along with Alltel Corp. and U.S. Cellular Corp., for taking too long to adopt tracking technology. The companies have 30 days to either pay the fines or contest them, the commission said Thursday.
NEW YORK
Charges against Quattrone dropped
A federal judge has dismissed criminal charges against former star technology banker Frank Quattrone.
In an order signed Monday and made public late Wednesday, U.S. District Judge George Daniels entered a nolle prosequi just over a year after Quattrone, the one-time head of Credit Suisse First Boston’s technology group, entered a deferred-prosecution agreement with prosecutors.
The deferred-prosecution agreement provided that obstruction-of-justice charges against Quattrone would be dismissed as long as he didn’t violate state or federal laws for a year.
The agreement allowed Quattrone, 51, to avoid a third trial on the charges and has paved the way for his possible return to the financial-services industry.
GOLDEN
Coors Brewing plans “above-premium” line
Golden-based Coors Brewing Co. plans to introduce a new line of “above-premium beers” under a newly created subsidiary called AC Golden Brewing Co., or ACG.
In an internal announcement made to company employees and distributors last week, Coors officials said the purpose of the brand is to “introduce above-premium beers to the marketplace” using an approach that departs from “the usual big-brewer process of full- blown, national rollouts that are very expensive and have had only limited success.”
That old model, the memo said, distracted brewers from their core business and brands.
The company will be led by former Coors employee Glenn Knippenberg and Frits van Paasschen, president and chief executive of Coors, according to the announcement by Pete Coors, chairman of Coors Brewing and vice chairman of Molson Coors Brewing Co., the parent company of Coors.
