Funding Secured for Unique Denver Affordable Housing and Grocery Store Complex

A project in Denver designed to see the construction of new affordable housing, and most importantly, a grocery store, is receiving $19 million in local revenue bonds.

Members of the Denver City Council have voted in favor of awarding the multifamily housing revenue bonds to a local group called the Montbello Organizing Committee, which is tasked with seeing to the successful execution of the project.

As planned, what is called the Montbello Fresh Lo project will go up at 12300 East Albrook Drive in the Montbello neighborhood on the east side of Denver.

That low-income neighborhood has been without a grocery store since a local Safeway supermarket outlet went out of business in 2014 and as such is classified as a “food desert.”

The federal Department of Agriculture defines food deserts, primarily found in rural or dense urban areas, as places lacking in fresh fruit and vegetable offerings for purchase.

According to city documents, the project will see the construction of 97 affordable housing units in a 7-story complex. Undoubtedly the focal point of the effort will be the building of a two-story grocery store, as well as several small retail spaces, and a cultural hub to be used for performing arts and other purposes.

Late last year, the Montbello Fresh Lo Initiative received an award of $1.2 million in federal housing tax credits, along with another $1 million in state housing tax credits.

Work on the project, which has been long in the talking stage with a notable degree of public input, is expected to begin early next year.

By Garry Boulard

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