Denver City Council on Monday voted to allow the transfer of a $5.56 million loan the city had granted developer Jeff Shanahan in 2023 so he can build another affordable housing project after a company believed to be affiliated with the Denver Broncos bought him out in January.
Denver’s Department of Housing Stability, or HOST, extended the loan, funded with federal American Rescue Plan dollars, in March 2023 to Shanahan for the purchase of 1530 W. 13th Ave. in the Lincoln Park neighborhood. In return, Shanahan agreed to construct 190 units affordable to renters or buyers making between 30% to 80% of the area median income under what is known as a rental and occupancy covenant.
Backed with the city loan, Shanahan paid $5.75 million for a building on 1.4 acres owned by Savio House, a nonprofit that provides family therapy, foster care placement and youth support. The nonprofit had purchased the location for $1.97 million in 2008 from the construction company G.H. Phipps, whose founder Gerald Phipps was a leading owner of the Denver Broncos from 1961 to 1981.
The Denver Broncos appear to have come knocking on the door of Savio House once again in the form of Atel Street LLC, which paid Shanahan $12.5 million for the building and land in January, more than double what he had paid less than two years earlier.
Shanahan and owners of at least a dozen other parcels around Burnham Yard in the Lincoln Park area were offered above market-rate prices and asked to sign non-disclosure agreements, according to transactions first uncovered by BusinessDen.
Why so much and why so secretive? The Broncos have said they are considering a new stadium, but not where it might be located. Burnham Yard is increasingly considered the leading site, given that there aren’t many parcels large enough and available within Denver proper.
The Colorado Department of Transportation is selling the 58-acre Burnham Yard, which it acquired in 2021 from the Union Pacific Railroad using state funds and borrowed money. Denver Water has also confirmed that it has been in talks with the team for more than a year regarding its 36-acre campus, which is adjacent to the yard.
Privately-funded stadium and arena developments around the country have been criticized for displacing low-income residents and small businesses as they add not just a sports venue but also entertainment and high-end residential districts nearby that can boost revenues for team owners.
One exception is Willets Point in Queens, N.Y., a 25,000-seat soccer stadium that includes 2,500 units of affordable housing and no high-end housing.
The sale of 1530 W. 13th Ave. came with a deed restriction that requires any new owner to build affordable housing on the site, as did the deed of another vacant parcel nearby that the Denver Housing Authority sold for $7 million.
Shanahan told the city he will use the loan funds for another affordable housing project on 1.1 acres at 155 W. 5th Ave., which is in the Baker neighborhood.
The ordinance City Council passed describes the loan transfer as a way for the “initial investment to be recycled, nearly doubling the amount of affordable housing development.”