Extensive renovation work may begin later this year on two longstanding apartment complexes in Denver’s North Capitol Hill neighborhood.
The three-story Art Deco-designed Drehmoor Apartments at 215 E. 19th Avenue was built in 1926 and encompasses 74 residential units. Those units, in a city with a rapidly increasing cost of rent, are income restricted.
Now members of the Denver City Council are contemplating approval of loans through the Department of Housing and Stability that will fund the renovation work. Last week, the council’s Safety, Housing, Education and Homeless Committee gave its approval to the awarding of those loans.
One loan will see just under $726,000 going for the work at the Drehmoor.
According to city documents, that work will include the installation of low flow plumbing fixtures and LED lights, as well as repairs to the building’s elevator and sidewalks.
The second loan in the amount of $1.1 million would target similar renovation work at the Argonaut-El Tovar Apartments, located at 1505 Grant Street.
An elegantly Italianate-designed structure of five floors built in 1908 as a hotel, the Argonaut-El Tovar complex houses 108 residential units in two brick buildings. This complex, too, will see repairs to its elevator, sidewalk upgrades, and installation of both LED lights and low flow plumbing fixtures.
Most residents at both complexes are on Social Security disability income, with the units restricted to those earning 30% of Area Median Income.
By Garry Boulard
