KUSA — One of Denver's oldest public housing communities is changing.
Platte Valley Homes is a block-long, nine-building complex in Curtis Park that has been around since 1942. The Denver Housing Authority (DHA), a government entity that provides affordable and subsidized housing to low-income families, is now planning to redevelop it.
Creating excess land to fund the project
The Platte Valley Homes redevelopment will cost $26 million, according to DHA.
The nine buildings currently on the site at 3058 Champa St. in Denver's Curtis Park neighborhood have 66 units total. DHA plans to demolish three of those buildings, including a community center.
DHA said it then plans to sell the excess land underneath the demolished buildings, as well as a nearby parking lot -- about half the site -- to private developers or individuals. They will then develop the land into for-sale housing, according to the Denver Office of Economic Development.
“The land sales will be put back into our program investment,” said Ryan Tobin, director of real estate development for DHA. “In turn, it could be thought that the land we’re selling is financing this project."
The remaining six buildings, 50 public housing units total, will be renovated.
DHA will also build 18 additional units for affordable senior housing on a parcel about a half-mile away, at 3401 Arapahoe St. Those units will be for seniors who qualify for the Housing Choice Voucher, formerly known as Section 8, which provides rental assistance to income-eligible tenants by subsidizing a portion of their monthly rent.
'A line of folks waiting'
The approval process for qualifying for public housing units is three years.
"We know there’s a line of folks waiting for housing," Tobin said. "That’s just one of the challenges we’re facing in our communities."
DHA said current residents affected by the redevelopment have already been placed in alternate public housing.
'I was established down there'
Pastor George Roberts grew up in Platte Valley. He was one of the last people who moved out to make way for the demolition.
“I was there for eight years, so I was established down there," he said. "Everybody knew the priest of the projects - Pastor George."
Roberts moved to Quigg Newton Community four months ago.
He said he was given the option to go back to Platte Valley once the construction was over.
"The chosen ones are going back, and I pray that I’m on that hit-list to go back,” he said.
Tobin with DHA said there will be units available for anyone who wants to come back.
"We have a space for them without a doubt," said Tobin with DHA.
Tobin also said residents will be charged the same rate they were before, 30 percent of their income. The qualifications, he said, stay the same, too.
“People want to come back because they’re proud of their neighborhood, and they’re proud of their community,” he said.
What is public housing?
The units are part of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development's “public housing” program, which has specific income limits for qualifying families.
About 66 percent of households in the Denver program had an income of less than $15,000 per year, according to the 2017 HUD Picture of Subsidized Households.
The funds for the program come from a variety of state, federal and local sources.
