Denver clears the way for a slice of University Hills near Colorado Station to go vertical

Some of the homes will be priced below market.

Compass Equipment workers construct a tower crane on a jobsite on Pearl Street at 16th Avenue, April 15, 2018. (Kevin J. Beaty/Denverite)

Compass Equipment workers construct a tower crane on a jobsite on Pearl Street at 16th Avenue, April 15, 2018. (Kevin J. Beaty/Denverite)

staff photos

Hundreds of homes will supplant a cluster of parking lots, low-slung office buildings, a vacant motel and an industrial site within walking distance from Colorado Station following a Denver City Council decision Monday night.

Homebuilders operating under the company name CREA-Flywheel Evans LandCo LLC asked elected officials to allow five- and eight-story buildings on a little over five acres of land near I-25 and Evans Avenue in University Hills. Council members approved the request 12 to 0, with Councilwoman Candi CdeBaca absent.

Developers say they will build 510 apartments and condos. Fifty-one of them will be attainable for people making 80 percent of the area median income, or $59,400 for a household of two. Homebuilders have signed a neighborhood agreement with locals and a legally binding development agreement with the City and County of Denver.

About 30,000 square feet of land will become open space, with 20,000 of it reserved for parks, a company rep told Council in October.

Before Monday, three stories were allowed on some of the properties, while five stories are allowed on others.

It might take a couple of years, but Colorado Station may just move up in the TOD Power Rankings.

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