Here’s what a major downtown developer had to say about Denver’s affordable housing fund

It’s great.

Jonathan Rose, the developer who rehabilitated the Denver Dry Goods building at 16th and California, has a new book out called “The Well-Tempered City” and he spoke with the Denver Post’s Emilie Rusch this week.

The whole interview is worth your time and touches on a lot of topics related to the future of cities. He had a few things to say about affordable housing that are of particular interest as the Denver City Council prepares for a final vote on a new permanent affordable housing fund.

On building mixed-income projects: “… affordable housing has very low risk. It’s always 100 percent full because there’s such a huge need for it. There’s very advantageous financing for it. When one does a mixed-income project, it actually lowers some of the risk. I like the financial model.”

On the affordable housing fund: “What the Denver City Council is doing is exactly right. They need to create economic resources. … If a city doesn’t have its own economic plan, its own way to raise money, it will never solve or even begin to solve its affordable housing issues.”

On what else the city could do: “Zoning that requires larger amount of affordable housing within walking distance of mass transit would be really useful so people can have inexpensive access to jobs.”