A resource center for homeless veterans will likely remain in its Five Points location in Denver under a tentative deal brokered between the building’s owner and the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs.
Part of the settlement between the VA and The Matthews Center LLC, which owns 3030 Downing St. where the resource center was located, includes .
The building has a buyer, according to VA insiders who said they were told the “expected new owners” will reach out and discuss a new lease.
Matthews Center owner Barbara Matthews confirmed the sale, and said the agreement to back away from any eviction was brokered Thursday. She did not elaborate on the terms, but said the VA indicated it would leave at the end of January..
“The Matthews Center has reached an accommodation with the VA and Department of Justice that will both allow the VA to continue to occupy its offices at the Matthews center through the term of its lease, and an opportunity to extend their lease,” Matthews said in an e-mail to The Denver Post. “We have also defined a process under which our claims for non-payment of rents under the current lease will be resolved by a neutral party.”
She said a variety of liens placed on the building through the years were “in large part due to the VA’s late and or non-payments.” Matthews said the issues revolve around $75,000 the VA alleged owes for their portion of a variety of expenses such as taxes and utilities.
The VA has disputed that it had not kept up its $5,000-per-month lease payments since opening the Denver VA Community Resource and Referral Center in 2012.
The building previously held the Bo Matthews Center for Excellence for about 15 years until the VA lease happened.
“We essentially shut down our operations and relied on the income from the VA lease to help sustain the facility,” Matthews wrote.
Matthews is married to William “Bo” Matthews, a former NFL running back and University of Colorado Boulder standout who retired in 1981 after an eight-year career with the San Diego Chargers, New York Giants and Miami Dolphins.
The center is a popular place for homeless vets, who receive case management and assistance in enrolling for medical and financial benefits. It also offers showers, limited storage and laundry services, as well as employment resources. The Matthews Center offered similar services to the homeless community before the VA arrived, she said.
“What should not get lost in this story is the real concern should be with the homeless veterans who have come to rely on this location,” Matthews wrote. “If the VA where to move the facility, it would certainly be … an unnecessary and insensitive act on the part of the VA, with no practical or logical reason for doing so.”
The VA had no official comment about the negotiated settlement or whether it will remain in the location for the long term.
