City unveils five-year housing plan

A recently unveiled five-year comprehensive plan will harness the resources of the public and private sectors to deliver accessible housing opportunities for people of all income levels throughout Denver.

Housing Denver will bolster affordability to all income levels from homeless to low-, moderate- and median-income households. It's the first such plan for the city in 15 years.

"Access to safe, decent affordable housing has never been more important in Denver," says Mayor Michael Hancock. "While the city's population growth has spiked, our housing stock is simply not keeping pace with the community's needs."

The plan outlines eight priorities:

• Increase housing resources. A consistent stream of funding is needed from public and private investments, revenue from housing-related initiatives such as the Metro Mortgage Assistance program and the Inclusionary Housing Ordinance, social impact bonds and general funds.
• Improve the system and the communication of the city's funding process to simplify, clarify and work more transparently with the housing development community, primarily nonprofits.
• Ensure regulatory relief and better efficiency benefits for those developing affordable housing, including accelerated processing, lower fees and/or reducing development charges on utilities.
• Increase critical needs and homeless housing through more wrap-around supportive service, exploring micro-unit development and removing barriers to housing those who were formerly incarcerated.
• Promote affordable housing throughout more ethnically and economically diverse areas for a wider range of family sizes, with better tracking of neglected, underutilized and/or derelict properties.
• Closely monitor and preserve the current body of affordable workforce and critical need properties to maximize the savings between a rehabilitated unit and a newly constructed one, including income-restricted properties, covenant restricted properties and those with a notice of intent to sell.
• Continue to foster home ownership through existing and additional homebuyer assistance and support programs.
• Encourage environmental sustainability and improved public health throughout all housing initiatives, including green building standards, transit-oriented developments, energy/water conservation, bicycle-pedestrian amenities and access to fresh food and other healthy lifestyle options.

"Denver's new plan strives to illustrate a full spectrum of housing needs and resources while strengthening the public-private partnerships that are necessary to boost affordable housing options," says Paul Washington, executive director of the Office of Economic Development. "From emergency shelter for the homeless all the way up to payment assistance for a homebuyer, creating affordable housing takes many forms, and our goal is to help more people appreciate the diversity of who benefits from a strong housing program."

Contact Confluence Denver Development News Editor Margaret Jackson with tips and leads for future stories at margaret@confluence-denver.com.