It’s a hot and sunny September morning, and a handful of development professionals are roaming the parking lot at 799 Logan St. in Denver’s Cap Hill neighborhood, across the street from the Governor’s Mansion.
Gov. Jared Polis doesn’t live in the building. But he wants others to move in next door.
Colorado’s recently created Public-Private Partnership Collaboration Unit, known as the P3 office, is seeking proposals from developers to build income-restricted housing on the half-acre parking lot at the corner of Eighth Avenue and Logan Street.
“Gov. Polis has made, really, a decision that we need more housing. We need more housing now, and so that’s kind of what this office was created for — the P3 office,” said Tom Kurek, director of the unit.
The state’s request for qualifications, or RFQ, dictates that projects must reserve at least 20% of units built on the site for those making no more than 80% of the area median income. That 80% market is currently $78,480 for a single person, and $112,080 for a family of four.
Developers will also have to reserve 28 parking spaces for use by the Governor’s Mansion. The state will lease the ground for 99 years, with the rent paying for future maintenance and upgrades to the mansion — where Polis could live, but opts not to.
Last Thursday, Kurek and a team of technical advisers and state employees led a half-dozen interested parties around the parking lot, answering questions about everything from rezoning to setbacks. The site was once home to brick buildings that came down sometime in the 1960s or 1970s, the group was told.
“So there might be some surprises down there,” responded developer Adam Berger.
Berger, who operates as Adam Berger Development, said he’s “taking a run” at the site.
Berger builds modular developments, where buildings are fashioned out of premade boxes, with appliances already installed. They’re put in place by crane and connected to the other units, and an exterior is constructed around them. He recently finished a 77-unit project in Denver’s Sun Valley neighborhood.
Though the Cap Hill parking lot is zoned for up to 12 stories, Berger’s approach wouldn’t use all of that.
“Twelve stories, hard to do modular, but also it’s a much more expensive building. Our platform right now is [for] five-story building[s], and it could be over a podium … so we’ll probably do something like that,” he said.
Other attendees arrived with fewer concrete plans in mind. A Cushing Terrell architect, for instance, was on-site hoping to find a developer that would need architectural services.
Applications close Oct. 24. Kurek said the state is hoping to select a developer by the year’s end and see construction start by 2027 or 2028. The P3 office won’t provide construction financing but could assist with the costs associated with design and permitting, he said.
Kurek is the second director to run the office, which launched in 2022. It has yet to facilitate a development from start to finish but is working with builders on housing projects from Lakewood to Durango.
“We’re developing the lot next to the Governor’s Mansion for housing, and that’s what should be done. I mean, that’s what’s needed to bring down the cost of housing, not only in Colorado, but across the country,” he said.
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