A $10-a-year license for the Stay Inn micro-community, the hotel Denver bought for $9 million in 2023
The license for Bayaud Works to run the Far Northeast shelter took effect Nov. 1, before any Council vote. The 2023 purchase was meant for 95 supportive housing units.
Denver wants to formally license Bayaud Works to use city land at 12033 E. 38th Ave., the Stay Inn micro-community in District 8, for $10 a year. The revocable license, 26-1733, was filed Nov. 10 and is headed to the Finance and Business Committee on consent.
Why it matters: the site is one of the city's bigger homelessness investments, and the paperwork shows how its use has shifted from what the Council approved when Denver bought it.
What the license does
According to the request from the Department of Finance:
- Term: Nov. 1 to Dec. 31, 2026, about two months, with one option to renew through Dec. 31, 2027.
- Price: $10 a year, $20 in all.
- Use: a micro-community shelter where Bayaud provides 24/7 services under its existing contract with the Department of Housing Stability (HOST).
The license term began Nov. 1, before the Council has voted on it. The request doesn't say why the license is coming now or what governed Bayaud's use of the land before.
What our records add
The city bought the property as the Stay Inn hotel in 2023. The Council voted 13-0 on Jan. 17, 2023, to buy the hotel at 12033 E. 38th Ave., 3835 Peoria St. and 3805 Peoria St. for $9 million, "to provide 95 supportive housing units and one manager unit" (22-1632, on consent).
It became a micro-community. In December 2025 the Council approved Bayaud's $1,811,631.90 contract for "programming and operations at the Stay Inn Micro-Community" through Dec. 31, 2026 (25-1792). It passed 13-0 on the consent agenda Dec. 1, 2025 (meeting).
A rezoning stalled. A 2024 request to rezone 12033 E. 38th Ave. from I-B to I-MX-3, an industrial mixed-use district, reached committee (24-1094). Our records show no Council vote on it.
Bayaud's role is growing. HOST's 2027 shelter plan includes $3.5 million for Bayaud to run cold-weather shelter for 600-plus people, according to slides shown to the Council's housing committee on Nov. 10 (our story). Bayaud also runs the Tamarac family shelter under a contract the Council approved in January (26-0077).
Advertisement
What's not filed yet. Bayaud's Stay Inn operating contract ends Dec. 31, the same day as this license. A 2027 operating contract has not appeared in the Council's records.
What's next
Finance and Business Committee on consent, then Mayor-Council and a Council vote. The site is in Shontel Lewis's District 8.