The existing 1500 Hooker St. building is unoccupied. (Matt Geiger/BusinessDen)
An income-restricted apartment complex along West Colfax is set to be torn down and replaced with a new one.
“Everybody knows that location because it’s the first building up from the cloverleaf there and Mile High stadium,” said Pat Coyle, executive director of the Atlantis Community Foundation. “It’s just an incredible location we want to preserve for affordable housing in the future.”
Coyle’s firm, which develops affordable housing for those with disabilities, owns the land at 1500 Hooker St., where a tired apartment building from the late 1960s sits. He said that Atlantis will demolish the structure and is under contract to sell the 0.6-acre site to Medici Communities, another local developer of income-restricted projects.
Plans for the new development were submitted to the city two weeks ago by Medici’s architect, Denver-based Shopworks Architecture. The documents call for a five-story, 72-unit building on the cul-de-sac steps from Colfax, with 82,000 square feet of residential space and about 5,000 square feet of office space.
Medici declined to comment, describing the plans as a “work in progress.” Alisha Hammett, an urban planner with Shopworks, said in an email that the development is “speculative” and requires tax credits to move forward. The recipients of those credits won’t be announced until November.
No specifics on the size and type of units are given. The building would have 51 parking spots on the bottom. Above that would be four stories of apartments renting at or below 60 percent of the area median income.
“The building at 1500 Hooker has been affordable housing for at least 20 years, maybe 25,” Coyle said.
Coyle, 71, has been with Atlantis for the past seven years after retiring from his position as director of the Colorado Division of Housing. He said he’s been in the housing world for almost 50 years.
Atlantis purchased 1500 Hooker well before his time. In November 2001, the foundation paid $1.55 million, or $60 a foot, for the existing 26,000-square-foot, three-story building.
The building is now vacant. Coyle said tenants moved out due to the expected redevelopment. They will be offered a chance to return when the new building is completed, he said.
Atlantis recently completed a new build with 144 units at 201 S. Cherokee St. in Baker and is set to begin construction in September on another development of 60 units at Bayaud Avenue and Elati Street. The proceeds from the expected sale to Medici will go towards another new apartment complex at 1290 N. Colorado Blvd., Coyle said.
Atlantis apartments are very similar to normal market-rate units, but come with a few minor tweaks – such as strobe lights for the hearing-impaired or grab bars for the physically-disabled – to make them more accessible.
“We try to serve a full range, physical, mental, hearing impaired, sight – we try to pair that with services on site,” Coyle said.
The existing 1500 Hooker St. building is unoccupied. (Matt Geiger/BusinessDen)
An income-restricted apartment complex along West Colfax is set to be torn down and replaced with a new one.
“Everybody knows that location because it’s the first building up from the cloverleaf there and Mile High stadium,” said Pat Coyle, executive director of the Atlantis Community Foundation. “It’s just an incredible location we want to preserve for affordable housing in the future.”
Coyle’s firm, which develops affordable housing for those with disabilities, owns the land at 1500 Hooker St., where a tired apartment building from the late 1960s sits. He said that Atlantis will demolish the structure and is under contract to sell the 0.6-acre site to Medici Communities, another local developer of income-restricted projects.
Plans for the new development were submitted to the city two weeks ago by Medici’s architect, Denver-based Shopworks Architecture. The documents call for a five-story, 72-unit building on the cul-de-sac steps from Colfax, with 82,000 square feet of residential space and about 5,000 square feet of office space.
Medici declined to comment, describing the plans as a “work in progress.” Alisha Hammett, an urban planner with Shopworks, said in an email that the development is “speculative” and requires tax credits to move forward. The recipients of those credits won’t be announced until November.
No specifics on the size and type of units are given. The building would have 51 parking spots on the bottom. Above that would be four stories of apartments renting at or below 60 percent of the area median income.
“The building at 1500 Hooker has been affordable housing for at least 20 years, maybe 25,” Coyle said.
Coyle, 71, has been with Atlantis for the past seven years after retiring from his position as director of the Colorado Division of Housing. He said he’s been in the housing world for almost 50 years.
Atlantis purchased 1500 Hooker well before his time. In November 2001, the foundation paid $1.55 million, or $60 a foot, for the existing 26,000-square-foot, three-story building.
The building is now vacant. Coyle said tenants moved out due to the expected redevelopment. They will be offered a chance to return when the new building is completed, he said.
Atlantis recently completed a new build with 144 units at 201 S. Cherokee St. in Baker and is set to begin construction in September on another development of 60 units at Bayaud Avenue and Elati Street. The proceeds from the expected sale to Medici will go towards another new apartment complex at 1290 N. Colorado Blvd., Coyle said.
Atlantis apartments are very similar to normal market-rate units, but come with a few minor tweaks – such as strobe lights for the hearing-impaired or grab bars for the physically-disabled – to make them more accessible.
“We try to serve a full range, physical, mental, hearing impaired, sight – we try to pair that with services on site,” Coyle said.
