The head of HUD praised a mixed-use downtown Denver community as the “poster child” for an energy-saving, sustainable development that provides both subsidized and market-rate housing.
Housing and Urban Development Secretary Shaun Donovan said that the Benedict Park Place community on 15 acres at 305 Park Avenue, is a prime example of the type of projects that the Obama Administration wants to see take shape nationwide.
“It absolutely will serve as a model for what we will do across the country,” Donovan told InsideRealEstateNews.com, following today’s press conference last Friday morning.
He said few other government housing projects in the U.S. include all of the “cutting edge” features of Benedict Park, which will include a geothermal system, solar arrays and water conservation measures. It also benefits from its proximity to light rail and the central business district, officials said.
HUD chief visits Denver
HUD Secretary Shaun Donovan today toured and lauded Benedict Park Place in DenverDonovan was a keynote speaker Friday morning at the the site of a four-story, 5-unit building under construction that will be heated and cooled with geothermal power. Because of the geothermal system, which taps underground energy for heat during the winter and to cool them during the summer, there is no need for air conditioning units on the roof, which allows for larger photovoltaic systems – solar panels – on the roof, he noted.
$43,000 in annual savings
All told, the geothermal system, with 42-bore wells to supply underground water for heating and cooling, will cut utility bills by more than 50 percent, combined with 100kw photovoltaic system, will save $43,000 annually. The payback is estimated to take seven years. “In the eighth year, we start reaping the rewards,” Donovan said.
Denver Mayor John Hickenlooper called it a “tremendous” asset for Denver that provides a “maximum benefit” for the use of taxpayer dollars. Hickenlooper said there is “unprecedented” cooperation in Washington, D.C., to bring together the various components of Benedict Park, including its green features, sustainability affordability and job creation. Hickenlooper said this is an example of what the “right money, at the right time,” can create.
“I’m not talking Democrat vs Republican administrations,” Hickenlooper said. “I’m talking about how things had been for the past 20 or 30 yeas, and how they have finally evolved.”
Perlmutter watched site evolve
Rep. Ed Perlmutter, D-Colorado, noted that when he was a lawyer in the nearby 56-story Republic Plaza, the tallest office tower in Denver, he could overlook the site. Sen. Michael Bennett was scheduled to attend, but was still in Washington, D.C., working on legislation.
Once Denver’s worst housing project now blooms
“The evolution of this neighborhood is exciting,” Perlmutter said. “It’s what we call a livable community. “The great thing is that it is a real neighborhood, but with really easy access to everything downtown.”
Originally built for the Olympics
For years, the development was considered the worst and most forlorn housing in Denver. It was first built in the 1970s to house athletes attending the 1976 Winter Olympics in Colorado. But when the Olympics did not come to Denver, the development, then known as East Village, became an eyesore, with rundown housing, plagued by drug dealing and prostitution, which stifled development in the area.
Sal Carpio, the former head of the Denver Housing Authority, was once thrown off the property, (along with this reporter), as he spoke to residents living in units filled with code violations, such as exposed wiring.
Then Mayor Wellington Webb finally worked out a deal for the Denver Housing Authority to buy the property, and re-develop it as a public-private partnership. The completed value is estimated at $203.94 million and it will include 699 units, with about a third of them subsidized, and the rest market rate.
“We preserved all of the subsidized units and added a lot market-rate units, in partnerships,” said Ismael Guerrero, executive director of the Denver Housing Authority.
Sea change to former East Village
The change from its East Village days have been amazing, he said.
“One of the biggest changes is that we really have integrated Uptown with downtown,” Guerrero said. “When it was East Village, it was a major obstacle to getting to downtown. You had to drive five or eight blocks around it to get downtown from the multi-block project. We’ve punched streets through to open it up and to provide a direct connection to Uptown to downtown.”
Aesthetically, he noted that people cannot tell the difference between the subsidized units and the market-rate ones. On part of the site next to the geothermal fueled building – land is being reserved for market-rate, single-family homes.
“Quite frankly, we’re waiting for the housing market to pick up before we start pursuing partnerships for that land,” Guerrero said.
Congressman Ed Perlmutter has been watching the evolution of this part of Uptown for more than 20 years. That may be sooner than later, said Chris Behrens, a broker with .
Behrens said he knows an infill developer that is aggressively searching the areas for parcels to buy for future housing developments.
“It’s a neighborhood with everything,” Behrens said. “It’s really close to downtown, and has just great views of the skyline.”
Video: Ismael Guerrero, the executive director of the Denver Housing Authority, discusses .
