In his three years as president and executive director of the Urban Land Conservancy, community activist Aaron Mirapol has acquired real estate ranging from downtown parking lots to shopping centers and apartment buildings in Denver’s urban neighborhoods.
His goal is to acquire real estate — by gift or purchase — at today’s more affordable prices that so it will be available to serve urban communities in the future, when land is likely to be more expensive.
“We were created to be a real estate entity that aggressively goes after properties,” Mirapol said.
Much of the Urban Land Conservancy’s effort focuses on transit-oriented development. It has leveraged seed money totaling $2.25 million from the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation into a $15 million fund that it uses to buy properties near mass transit, where it plans to preserve and create affordable housing.
The organization’s first acquisition using the fund was the 36-unit Dahlia Apartments in northeast Park Hill. The $1 million low-interest loan provided Urban Land the capital to buy and operate the building. It will eventually partner with another nonprofit housing provider to renovate the six apartment buildings within the next five years, as required under the transit-oriented development fund rules.
The conservancy also has partnered with New West Side Economic Development, a community development corporation, to buy Jody Apartments, a 62-unit community adjacent to the future Sheridan light-rail station, which will likely be redeveloped into permanently affordable housing.
“The Urban Land Conservancy brings capital to projects and that’s something we’ve needed,” said Ray Stranske, New West Side’s director of housing and economic development. “With the Jody Apartments, we really didn’t have enough money to take down the project, so we were looking for other partners.”
The conservancy also partnered with St. Andrew’s Episcopal Church to buy two 12,500-square-foot parking lots in the 2000 block of Glenarm, a block from the light-rail stop at Welton Street and Broadway, near the 31-story One Lincoln Park condo tower.
“We bought them with the understanding that there’s going to be redevelopment there,” Mirapol said. “St. Andrews’ fear was there would be another 30- to 40-story building there.”
Urban Land is holding the lots and has no immediate plans for the property, Mirapol said.
“We bought it in the spring of 2008 when the financial markets shifted,” Mirapol said. “We’ve got time and we’ve got patient capital.”
Other Urban Land projects: the redevelopment of the former Denver Tramway Co. transportation and maintenance facility at East 35th Avenue and Franklin Street, which became the Phillips Center, now housing seven nonprofit tenants; and the redevelopment of Holly Square.
Margaret Jackson: 303-954-1473 or mjackson@denverpost.com
Urban Land Conservancy projects
Dahlia Apartments
The 36-unit apartment complex in northeast Park Hill will be renovated within the next five years, as required under the transit-oriented development fund rules.
Jody Apartments
Urban Land has partnered with New West Side Economic Development to buy the 62- unit community adjacent to the future Sheridan light-rail station. The property is likely to be redeveloped into a permanently affordable transit-oriented development.
Phillips Center
Urban Land helped redevelop the former Denver Tramway Co. transportation and maintenance facility at East 35th Avenue and Franklin Street into the Phillips Center, which occupies a full city block and houses seven nonprofit tenants.
Holly Square
Redevelopment of Holly Square, which was irreparably damaged by fire in the summer of 2008, remains in the planning stages. Urban Land has determined that the project is not likely to be residential.
