A $6 million downtown loan for senior apartments in the Barth Hotel heads to committee
The plan would turn the LoDo landmark into 50 homes for low-income seniors. It's the latest of several Downtown Development Authority deals the Council has approved this fall.
The historic Barth Hotel at 1514 17th Street could become 50 apartments for low-income seniors, and the Council is being asked to sign off on the downtown money behind it. The funding agreement, Council Bill 26-1608, is on the Finance and Business Committee's agenda Tuesday, Oct. 27 (agenda).
For residents, this is one of the few new affordable senior housing projects downtown, and it uses a downtown tax district's money rather than the city's General Fund.
The deal
According to the city's committee presentation:
- Borrower: The Barth Hotel, LLC, part of Eaton Senior Communities.
- Homes: 50 affordable senior units for households at 30% to 50% of area median income.
- Cost: about $22.1 million in total.
- Loan: up to $6 million from the Denver Downtown Development Authority ($4 million if tax credits come through), at 2% interest over 40 years. The project is also using 9% low-income housing tax credits and historic tax credits.
- Timeline: The building purchase closed Oct. 7. Permits are expected this fall and winter, construction in spring 2027 and move-ins in spring 2028.
The slides say the Council's action is an agreement that moves money the city holds in trust to the authority. The city is not a party to the loan itself, and the loan is subordinate to the project's senior debt.
The authority approved the loan in January, the Denver Gazette and Denverite reported. BusinessDen later reported that the tax-credit award was described as the last piece of financing the project needed.
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What our records add
The Council already added the Barth to the district. The presentation lists the property's inclusion in the authority's boundaries as Council Bill 26-1333, which passed 12-0 on Oct. 5. Before that vote, on Sept. 28, Council member Shontel Lewis asked city attorneys to explain to the public how properties get added, so that no one would think the authority was "expanding ... in perpetuity." An attorney explained that state law limits it to the central business district (video at 54:19).
More deals this fall. The Council approved authority funding agreements for the University Building at 900-918 16th Street (26-1336, 12-0 on Oct. 5) and Unit 100 of the Midland Condominiums at 444 17th Street (26-1335, 11-0 on Oct. 13, Council member Stacie Gilmore absent). Another boundary change, 26-1429, is up for a final vote Monday (agenda). A separate agreement for 101 West Colfax Avenue, tied to a city lease with Alterra Mountain Company, 26-1334, is on the Mayor-Council agenda Tuesday (agenda).
Why it keeps coming up. At a Sept. 21 budget hearing, Council member Chris Hinds, whose district includes downtown, listed the expanded authority among signs of downtown's recovery (video at 56:16). Council member Jamie Torres called it "a great tool" at a Sept. 25 hearing (video at 44:29).