Proposed Denver-DHA amendment calls for 959 affordable units by 2026, but conflicts on longer-term target

A proposed amendment between Denver and the Denver Housing Authority would require DHA to develop, rehabilitate or preserve at least 959 affordable units by Dec. 31, 2026, while setting a longer-term target of at least 1,200 units by 2038. But another section refers to a 1,100-unit pipeline, leaving an unresolved drafting conflict.

The proposed amendatory agreement assigns the 959-unit commitment to three project groups: Sun Valley Homes, Shoshone and scattered-site developments. The units must serve households earning no more than 80% of area median income, including approximately 323 units for very-low-income households, 519 for low-income households and 117 for moderate-income households.

The 2026 minimums are:

• Sun Valley Homes: 763 new rental units, including replacement of 333 existing public-housing units, at properties generally located around 990 Alcott Way.
• Shoshone: 53 new rental units at 3220 Shoshone St.
• Scattered sites: 143 units at Studebaker, 1510 Blake St., and 655 Broadway.

For the 2026 deadline, the agreement defines a unit as “developed” when the project reaches financial close or receives a temporary or final certificate of occupancy. The deadline therefore does not necessarily require every unit to be fully built and leased by Dec. 31, 2026.

The longer-term provision requires DHA to acquire properties and select development partners to produce at least 1,200 units by Dec. 31, 2038. At least 600 must serve households earning no more than 30% of area median income and remain affordable in perpetuity. DHA also must provide at least 300 project-based vouchers, subject to available federal funding and HUD eligibility.

The unresolved target

Exhibit A-1, Section II.B says the acquisition pipeline “will provide a minimum of 1,100 units.” A later project-phasing provision requires at least 1,200 units by 2038, while another amendment provision bars reducing the overall minimum below 1,200 units.

The agreement does not say whether the 1,200-unit language supersedes the 1,100-unit reference or whether the figures apply to different stages of the pipeline. Denver and DHA would need to clarify the discrepancy.

What public records show

DHA’s public records document progress on the named projects but do not provide a current, consolidated count of units satisfying the amendment’s 959-unit test as of Aug. 20, 2026.

DHA says Gateway North and Gateway South at Sun Valley — 95 and 92 units, respectively — were completed in 2021 and fully leased by the first quarter of 2022. DHA’s Sun Valley redevelopment information lists GreenHaus at 129 units and Thrive at 135 units, with leasing beginning in 2023.

DHA’s 2025 budget says GreenHaus and Thrive had been completed, leased and placed in operation. It lists the 223-unit Sol and 180-unit Joli phases as under construction, with completion projected in 2025, and the 124-unit Flo phase with construction also projected to finish in 2025. The reviewed records do not establish whether those phases reached the amendment’s financial-close or certificate-of-occupancy standard.

DHA’s 2022 budget says the Shoshone project redeveloped a 10-unit site into 53 units, was completed in July 2021 and was expected to be fully leased by February 2022. It also says rehabilitation of the 33-unit Studebaker property was completed in August 2021, with 30 units occupied at the end of that year, and projected completion of the 110-unit 655 Broadway conversion for July 2022. Later budget documents describe the properties as operating or in lease-up, but the reviewed records do not provide a definitive completion statement for all 110 Broadway units.

The amendment requires quarterly progress and financial reports within 45 days after each quarter and an annual report by March 1. DHA’s financial-reports page lists annual budgets through 2026, but no 2026 quarterly progress report was located. The 2026 annual report would not ordinarily be due until March 1, 2027. The available public record therefore does not establish a current cumulative total toward the 959-unit commitment.

Approval status

Council Bill 26-1168 identifies Aug. 11 as its Community Planning and Housing Committee approval date and Aug. 18 as its Mayor-Council date. The filed bill’s fields for City Council passage, mayoral approval, Clerk and Recorder attestation and Denver Post publication are blank. The amendment’s signature pages also do not show completed city signatures or an effective date.

The agreement says it will not become effective or binding on Denver until fully executed by required city signatories and, if required by the City Charter, approved by City Council. The available record supports describing the 959-unit commitment as a provision of a proposed amendment, not as a confirmed, binding change to the city-DHA agreement.