Continuum, Goshen Unveil Second Five Points Affordable Housing Project
A 12,600 SF lot at 2510 Welton St. in Five Points could soon be the site of 60 affordable housing units, according to a plan released by Denver-based developers Continuum Partners and minority-owned Goshen Development.
It's the second project announced in the neighborhood by the two companies since June.
“By investing in affordable housing in Five Points, we’re not only addressing the affordability cliff that threatens to displace long-time residents, but also preserving the cultural soul of this historic neighborhood,” Goshen Development founder Haroun Cowans said in a press release. “This project is a critical step towards stemming the rapid decline of African American residents in Five Points and ensuring that the community remains vibrant and inclusive for generations to come.”
Continuum and Goshen project the total cost of developing the proposed 60-unit mixed-use facility with 3K SF of ground-level retail to be $28M, bolstered by a $2M forgivable loan made by the Colorado Housing Financing Agency. The developers say the multifamily component will feature studios and units with one, two and three bedrooms.
Continuum Partners and Goshen Development announced plans earlier this year, in partnership with Denver-headquartered dialysis giant DaVita, to develop workforce housing on a half-acre parcel at 2000 Welton St., purchased by DaVita.
Historically known as the “Harlem of the West,” Five Points was once home to 75% of Denver’s Black residents, according to the Urban Institute. However, the neighborhood has undergone significant changes in recent years. Denver was recently named the No. 2 “most intensely gentrified city” in the U.S. by advocacy network the National Community Reinvestment Coalition.
Much of Five Points has been folded into the River North Art District, or RiNo, a name coined roughly 15 years ago for a formerly industrial corridor of central Denver. RiNo’s development spurred investment and gentrification within its boundaries and in adjacent neighborhoods like Five Points.
Median home prices in Five Points now hover around $600K, transforming the neighborhood into one predominantly occupied by white residents. This demographic shift has raised concerns about the potential loss of diversity and its impact on the business community.
Richard Lewis, founder, president and CEO of Denver-based information technology company RTL Networks, told Bisnow that dissipating diversity in the city has made it not only difficult to maintain a strong talent pipeline of professionals of color but also to keep them once they are hired.
“It is not unusual for diverse new hires who relocate to Colorado to leave at the 18-month period or so and go back to an area where they’re more familiar and comfortable,” Lewis said.
Lewis founded the Urban Leadership Foundation’s Connect Leadership Program, a 10-month program aimed at helping Black professionals develop the skills to become leaders in business and the community. Most recently, he founded the RTL Foundation, which aims to boost economic opportunity for underprivileged communities.
The work being done by Goshen’s Haroun Cowans, he said, is impactful in the way that Fathima Dickerson, who owns the long-running, Black-owned Welton Street Cafe, and Juneteenth Festival organizer Norman Harris are when it comes to maintaining Five Points’ spirit of Black history.
Five Points was an investment hot spot until the pandemic struck in 2020. A 2019 Denver Post article highlighted a surge in development plans, including a major hotel, mixed-use projects and a rising number of Black-owned businesses on Welton Street — a movement one resident described as a “new renaissance” for the area.
Like many downtown cores, though, development has since slowed and commercial properties have lost value in Five Points. The Lydian mixed-use apartment complex on Welton Street has sold twice in just under three years. Minneapolis-headquartered investor Centerspace purchased the 129-home community for $54M on Oct. 1, representing an 18% drop from the $66M Cohen Rojas Capital Partners paid for it in 2022.
Continuum Partners formed the Denver Cultural Property Trust in 2021 with the goal of “protecting and preserving Denver’s cultural community,” according to the release. The DCPT focuses on the so-called missing middle, or residents who earn between 50% and 100% of the area median income — often not enough to live on in Denver, but still too much to qualify for federal or state assistance.
“Our work in Five Points is part of a broader strategy to tackle the national crisis of housing affordability,” Continuum Partners CEO Mark Falcone said in the statement. “We’re proud to be delivering innovative solutions that address the complex challenges of housing affordability and community displacement.”
As with many proposed developments, this one remains in its early conceptual phase, with plans subject to change.
