Local affordable developers seek rezoning for apartment project in Denver’s Cole neighborhood

While trams and trolleys have been off Denver streets for years a piece of their history is key in creating the city s newest apartment project Local income-restricted housing developers Medici Communities and the Urban Land Conservancy are working together on a planned -unit income-restricted apartment building at the northwest corner of Gilpin Street and th Avenue in Denver s Cole neighborhood Being so close to downtown and being so close to Five Points and the River North Art District Cole is gentrifying fleetly mentioned Andrea Burns a spokeswoman for the conservancy The building is designed with a brick facade and will go up on a -acre concrete pad It s next door to the Tramway Nonprofit Center a s tram and bus storage building that occupies three-fourths of the block between th and th avenues and Franklin and Gilpin streets The conservancy bought the block in for million according to masses records The tramway building is home to organizations and has been a hub for nonprofits since the s When you realize the after-school programs that are happening there that are all free for kids from the Cole neighborhood there s no doubt that there is a need for more affordable housing in this place Burns stated The deal for the apartment project calls for the conservancy to lease the land for years to Medici which will build the four-story complex ensuring that the apartments remain income-restricted for decades to come But a lot has to happen before hammers are swinging on-site The conservancy demolished an old building to make way for advance in and considered condos for it in But zoning challenges got in the way the property is under the outdated code which the city updated in Related Articles Sponsored Why Denver homeowners are investing more in renovation projects Amid Broncos stadium talks Denver Water quietly seeks to buy more than properties near its campus Sponsored Why Colorado s massive home inventory failed to spark buyer interest in May Partially built hotel near DIA sells for nearly M Colorado tops country when it comes to this key cost for homebuyers The city s old zoning code and the complexities and obstacles related to that zoning made it very hard So this is a restart Burns announced The Denver Planning Board will be the first city body to review the rezoning application on July Burns added The new custom zoning being applied for will allow the firms to build the apartment building while protecting the existing tramway building next door from progress Before the conservancy the block was owned by local philanthropist Chuck Phillips He sold the site to ULC in and died in Phillips family trust also owns the real estate for Wyatt Academy a society charter school that leases the building right away north of the tramway building We have really felt an imperative as part of our mission to try to deliver affordable housing here also knowing that that was what Chuck Phillips requested to do and he wasn t able to do it in his lifetime Burns reported Get more real estate and business news by signing up for our weekly newsletter On the Block