The Denver City Council unanimously approved a rezoning request on Monday that paves the way for an office-to-residential conversion in the city’s southeast.
Developer Shea Properties wants to turn a vacant four-story, 124,000-square-foot office building at 4340 S. Monaco St. into 143 income-restricted apartments. But the rezoning needed for the project had been opposed by the mayor of Cherry Hills Village, which sits across the street from the site.
“When you get a 13-0 vote from City Council, you know you’re doing something right,” said Peter Culshaw, executive vice president of Shea Properties.
It’s the first proposed residential conversion for Shea, which is primarily active in the DTC.
“I think we’re excited to provide 143 nice homes for folks to live in that are affordable,” Culshaw said. “I think it matches the need. The city has a huge need, the state has a huge need, and it’s cool to be doing our bit.”
Others at the meeting agreed.
“It’s wonderfully located near trails and green space, and one of the great things about this project is the availability of three- and four-bedroom units, the perfect size for families,” Luchia Brown, a volunteer with pro-housing development group YIMBY Denver, said at the meeting.
She was one of seven who spoke in support of the item at Monday’s council meeting. No one spoke in opposition.
The proposal was appearing in front of the council for a second time. Shea’s application had gotten nearly completely through the rezoning process when, in June, the city realized it had made a mistake. It forgot to tell some of the building’s neighbors what was happening.
Three houses in Cherry Hills hadn’t been notified of the rezoning, despite being within 200 feet of the property. Denver’s zoning code requires that all properties within that distance be notified, even if the parcel falls outside Denver’s borders.
Katy Brown, the mayor of Cherry Hills Village, filed a letter to the city opposing the rezoning, primarily citing the lack of proper notification. But when the item was presented in front of Denver’s Planning Board a second time last month, it was clear that her opposition extended beyond that.
“We have very serious concerns that you’re stranding low-income families on an island between I-25, a four-lane arterial, with no access to medical care, no access to grocery stores and no access to transit,” Brown said at the meeting last month.
Representatives from Shea have since spoken to Brown, and Culshaw has chatted with the mayor of nearby Greenwood Village, which also expressed concern about the notification failure. A public town hall was held last month for the Cherry Hills residents who missed an earlier meeting. Mayor Brown was in attendance, Culshaw said.
But at Monday’s meeting, the opposition was brought back up.
“I’ve heard many of the NIMBY comments from some people in the area and leaders in other cities,” said former Councilwoman Kendra Black, who previously represented the district where the property sits. “Their opposition is just silly.”
Those comments were echoed by the district’s current representative, Councilwoman Diana Romero Campbell.
“I find it unique and compelling, not only because this is a building conversion like I said before, but because it has been vacant for over six years,” she said.
With approvals and hand, Shea is pressing on with the project.
Culshaw hopes construction will begin in early 2025 and finish up a year later. The project has received $26 million in bond money from Denver, Englewood and Centennial. Shea is waiting to see if the project will receive federal and/or state tax credits awarded by the Colorado Housing and Finance Authority.
“To do this on any type of scale is difficult, challenging — but fun,” Culshaw said.
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Originally Published: August 14, 2024 at 3:00 p.m.
