Denver council approves $4.53 million Capitol Hill property purchase for possible affordable housing

Denver City Council voted 12-1 on June 1 to approve the city’s $4.525 million purchase of the state-owned property at 251 E. 12th Ave., a Capitol Hill site the city says could be used for future affordable housing.

The adopted resolution authorizes Denver to buy the building and property from the State of Colorado for $4,525,000. During the council meeting, members debated whether the site can ultimately deliver the kind of housing Denver most needs.

Councilmember Flor Alvidrez cast the lone no vote. During the meeting, she said she did not believe the city had enough due-diligence information to make the purchase safely and questioned whether the existing structure could realistically be reused. She also argued that a project centered mainly on workforce-level rents could fall short of the city’s need for larger homes for families and for more deeply affordable units.

In response, HOST Executive Director M. Leía Montoya told council that if the acquisition closes, the city expects to issue a request for proposals to affordable-housing developers. Montoya said the city would seek a mix averaging about 60% of area median income, with some units below that threshold, and would ask for a range of bedroom counts, including more family-sized units, while still allowing developers flexibility to propose a financially workable project.

What council approved, though, was the land purchase — not a final housing plan. The June 1 discussion showed that the unit mix, affordability levels and whether the current structure would be reused or replaced all remain unresolved.

Councilmember Chris Hinds, whose district includes the site, argued during the meeting that the location is unusually valuable because it sits in Denver’s densest neighborhood near jobs, transit and daily services. Councilmember Sarah Parady said the bond dollars behind the purchase were also intended as an anti-displacement tool as redevelopment pressure grows along East Colfax.

That helps explain why the purchase carries policy significance beyond a routine real-estate deal. In the East Central planning area that includes Capitol Hill, city planning documents identify 15,212 renter-occupied units in areas considered vulnerable to displacement. The same document says Capitol Hill and North Capitol Hill have the highest housing density in the area.

The broader affordability pressure is also documented elsewhere in city records. Denver’s 2025 housing action plan says the city is trying to improve access to affordable housing and prioritize residents at risk of displacement. The mayor’s homelessness report says city teams are also focusing on families experiencing homelessness.

For now, the clearest verified outcome is that Denver has moved to acquire a state-owned site in central Denver for potential below-market housing. Whether it becomes a meaningful family-housing project — or whether the existing building can be reused at all — will depend on due diligence and on the still-unwritten RFP that follows this vote.