For decades, dilapidated buildings littered the corner of York Street and 37th Avenue in the Cole neighborhood. The site was an eyesore and loaned itself to criminal activity.
This all according to Jeff Johnsen, a longtime resident of east Denver and the executive director of Mile High Ministries, a spiritual community and nonprofit that's offered transitional housing and other community services to the city.
Johnsen said he'd walk past the decay and wonder how he and his fellow neighbors could fix the area and make it a space community members would want to walk past, a space that could serve the neighborhood.
"Our neighborhood here on the Eastside is beautiful and you had this... open wound in the neighborhood," Johnsen said. "For 20 years, we've been dreaming and praying and planning and wondering if we could ever see something good happen here."
Now, through Mile High and other community and financial organizations, the corner is home to affordable rental units and that community gathering spot.
Clara Brown Commons is a 61-unit affordable housing complex with a mix of one-, two-, and three bedroom apartments for those making 20% through 80% of the area median income. For a family of three, that ranges from about $33,510 to $89,360.
Clara Brown was an enslaved woman who later led other previously enslaved people to Colorado. She was Colorado's first Black woman settler, making Auraria and Central City her home. She's buried just west of the namesake apartment complex in Riverside Cemetery.
Johnsen said naming the housing project after Brown was a no-brainer.
"Honestly, I think she is the most inspirational person who maybe has ever lived in Colorado, and she embodied so many of the values and the characteristics of the kind of people we want to be," Johnsen said. "She was generous, entrepreneurial, hardworking. She was a community oriented person and she persevered through so much pain, so much hardship. Her story is inspirational."
On Friday, community members celebrated the opening of the building, which has already begun leasing.
"This whole thing has been a journey of generosity," Johnsen said. "We walked and we prayed and we asked questions and we dreamed...It happened!
As Johnsen tells it, the lot has seen plenty of downs but also plenty of ups in recent years. In 2016, the property was seized by the city from Douglas Bruce, the man who invented Colorado's restrictive Taxpayer Bill of Rights law and who later went to jail for tax evasion.
The property was later purchased by fiscal sponsor TYL Foundation and held for Mile High until they were able to come up with the funds to purchase the property.
The dilapidated buildings were demolished in 2019. In 2020, the lot became home to Colorado Village Collaborative's second tiny home village, the Women's Village at Clara Brown Commons.
Now, the lot will continue to house those in need. But it could have gone the other way.
The Eastside is historically home to Black residents who, overtime, have been pushed out due to rising house costs. Historically, blighted spaces are bought by developers who continue a cycle of gentrification and displacement.
Johnsen said that was a justifiable fear for residents. But, he knew what his neighbors wanted: affordable housing.
"We never would have thought about anything else from day one, and I think [community members] trusted us because I was a neighbor," Johnsen said. "Their concerns were my concerns. As soon as we thought there was a possibility that we could get the land, we started doing neighborhood meetings. Over 80 of our neighbors came to those meetings and helped us dream Clara Brown Commons into being."
That dream included community-related amenities. There's large-scale artwork done by local Denver muralists Tony Ortega and Detour. There's a community kitchen, along with indoor and outdoor dining spaces. Mile High will be offering adult and youth services from employment support to tutoring. There's also wellness components, including a garden, fitness center and chapel. Nearby residents who don't live in the building are also welcome to use the amenities.
Johnsen said the amenities were a vital aspect to the complex because the overall goal of buying the property and changing the lot was to better the neighborhood. Community space was always at the forefront, he said.
"Increasingly people are isolated and lonely...So, what we all need, what we all hunger for is community. We want real connection with our neighbors, but it's hard to do," Johnsen said. "An apartment building can be a lonely place in spite of all the people that are there. Sometimes we need some help to kind of jump start that into existence."
During the grand opening, Johnsen thanked everyone involved in the project, including Hunt Capital Partners, which helped procure the low-income tax credits. The $27.5 million project was also financed with City of Denver HOME funds, Colorado Division of Housing HOME funds, the Department of Housing Stability and sponsor capital campaign funds.
Johnsen also thanked Habitat for Humanity for their collaboration on the project. A portion of the lot was sold to Habitat who constructed 17 townhomes that are being sold at affordable rates. Those are set to go on sale next week.
