The city has identified a hotel site in southeast Denver that it could use for housing as part of the mayor's House1000 initiative.
The mayor's office announced Wednesday that the city is interested in leasing the Embassy Suites by Hilton Denver Tech Center North at 7525 E. Hampden Ave. in District 4.
The hotel has about 200 rooms and would be used as a non-congregate shelter primarily for families with children, along with non-binary and transgender individuals experiencing homelessness. The site would also provide wraparound services, though the city did not say specifically what would be offered.
Several contracts would need to be approved by City Council before the city could begin filling up the rooms. The announcement said an unknown "partner" would be purchasing the site, and the partner would lease it to the city. The city did not immediately respond to questions about who that partner would be.
Council would also have to approve a contract with a service provider that would manage the site and work with residents. Service providers typically aren't chosen until later in the process.
If all of the contracts are approved by Council, this would be the fourth hotel the city has either leased or acquired to provide housing for those experiencing homelessness. So far, the city is leasing the former Best Western Central Park hotel at 4595 Quebec St. and the former DoubleTree hotel at 4040 Quebec St. It also purchased the former Stay Inn at 12033 E. 38th Ave.
Also if the site is approved, it would be the first site in District 4 hosting the unhoused under the mayor's housing plan. The district was originally slated to host a micro-community at 5500 Yale Ave. but the proposal was nixed "based on the criteria [the city has] identified including economic viability, projected site yield and consideration of other viable options," according to the city.
The city will be hosting a community meeting on the plan for the site at 10 a.m. on Dec. 16 at Hamilton Middle School, 8600 E Dartmouth Ave.
The House1000 program aims to get 1,000 people off the streets, into non-congregate shelters and on the path to permanent housing by the end of 2023.
Editor's Note: The proposed site is at 7525 E. Hampden Ave. This story has been corrected.
