The Radisson Hotel in Globeville will likely become shelter for people experiencing homelessness as the city looks to get 1,000 people off the streets by the end of 2023 and even more people next year.
On Wednesday, City Council's Safety, Housing, Education and Homelessness Committee passed the contract on to all of Council, which will vote on the plan in the next few weeks.
The city currently leases blocks of units at the Radisson as non-congregate shelter, but under a new agreement Denver would rent the entire hotel for nearly $10.4 million through December of 2024. The hotel includes 220 rooms, along with a restaurant and meeting spaces that would become support services for residents. Denver expects the site to serve 250 people at any given time.
Denver's Director of Real Estate Lisa Lumley said the cost of leasing the entire building comes out to less than renting out blocks of rooms, as the city currently does.
City Council will also vote on a contract with Bayaud Enterprises, Inc., which will run the Radisson hotel site for about $2 million through June, with the potential to extend through the end of the year. That service will include three meals per day and a number of housing navigation services.
A third contract will allow the St. Francis Center to operate the Comfort Inn, another non-congregate shelter site, through the end of 2024. That site, which has been in operation since January of 2023, is expected to serve 300 households annually.
Under the contracts, service providers are expected to help 40% of people exit into permanent or stable housing and engage 80% of people in case management and housing navigation services.
