Johnston declared victory in his House1000 goal in December, but that victory was thanks to hotel partnerships, not micro-communities.
Earlier this year, the mayor's office changed the name of House1000 to the All In Mile High initiative, which aims to have 2,000 total homeless residents off the streets by the end of 2024. And micro-communities are again part of the plan.
Jennifer Grieving, president of the Overland Park Neighborhood Association and an Overland resident, says that she and her neighbors were impressed with the micro-community when they were given a tour last week.
"The road noise from Santa Fe didn't seem too egregious. The units are nice, everything looks nice, which is such an improvement on what the site looked like before," she says. "The fact that they were able to do that in such a small space was impressive to neighbors."
Grieving says the neighborhood organization is "pretty close" to finalizing its Good Neighbor Agreement with Colorado Village Collaborative, which will run the site. However, the two parties have agreed to hold monthly meetings about how the micro-community will be run.
Other Micro-Communities in Denver
"950 West Alameda has not been canceled, and it is still under consideration, but an official decision has not been made," says mayoral spokesperson Jose Salas.
The mayor has been relying on four hotels to house the bulk of the 1,000 people who moved indoors via the House1000 plan. The city has more than 900 units for homeless residents spread across the four hotels, according to the mayor's office.
The city is currently leasing the 289-unit DoubleTree Hotel at 4040 Quebec Street to house homeless residents; Johnston mentioned the site while unveiling his proposed micro-communities last August. It is still being used to house homeless residents, and the ballroom is employed for cold-weather sheltering when needed.
Earlier this year, the mayor's office changed the name of House1000 to the All In Mile High initiative, which aims to have 2,000 total homeless residents off the streets by the end of 2024. And micro-communities are again part of the plan.
Last year, Johnston only managed to open one micro-community, a 54-unit site at 12033 East 38th Avenue in Central Park, which opened on the last day of 2023. That site is run by Bayaud Enterprises, a Colorado nonprofit, and is still hosting 54 homeless residents who were swept from Denver encampments. It's also in front of a 96-unit motel the city bought in late 2022 for $9 million as part of the House1000 plan.
On Monday, March 11, Johnston further touted All In Mile High by announcing the opening of La Paz, a micro-community in the Overland neighborhood that will host sixty residents — with the capacity for up to 120 people by the summer.
This week, the city will be sweeping 95 people out of an encampment on West Colfax Avenue and Umatilla Street, according to the mayor, and sixty of those individuals will be going to the La Paz micro-community.
"House1000 last year was our first sprint effort. We were able to successfully get more than 1,135 people indoors before the end of the year, but we knew our work was not done," Johnston said during a press conference at La Paz. "We want all folks indoors, and that means in any of our communities around the city. That might be a hotel site. That might be one of these community sites with tiny homes."
On Monday, March 11, Johnston further touted All In Mile High by announcing the opening of La Paz, a micro-community in the Overland neighborhood that will host sixty residents — with the capacity for up to 120 people by the summer.
This week, the city will be sweeping 95 people out of an encampment on West Colfax Avenue and Umatilla Street, according to the mayor, and sixty of those individuals will be going to the La Paz micro-community.
"House1000 last year was our first sprint effort. We were able to successfully get more than 1,135 people indoors before the end of the year, but we knew our work was not done," Johnston said during a press conference at La Paz. "We want all folks indoors, and that means in any of our communities around the city. That might be a hotel site. That might be one of these community sites with tiny homes."
"The road noise from Santa Fe didn't seem too egregious. The units are nice, everything looks nice, which is such an improvement on what the site looked like before," she says. "The fact that they were able to do that in such a small space was impressive to neighbors."
Grieving says the neighborhood organization is "pretty close" to finalizing its Good Neighbor Agreement with Colorado Village Collaborative, which will run the site. However, the two parties have agreed to hold monthly meetings about how the micro-community will be run.
An updated map shows the location of the city's micro-communities and the hotels that are being used for the All In Mile High initiative.
Courtesy of the City of Denver
Other Micro-Communities in Denver
Elati Village, a 44-unit micro-community for homeless women and transgender individuals and their children in the Golden Triangle, is scheduled for an "end of March opening," according to Kaitlin Cook, a spokesperson for the Gathering Place, the nonprofit that will run the site.
Both Elati Village and La Paz were supposed to open last December, per the city's contracts with the sites' service providers. Both the Gathering Place and CVC have said the delay won't affect the contracts; although CVC's contract does include a section that says the city will consider expanding La Paz to 120 units in June, that date will likely be pushed back, as the expansion was supposed to come six months after the site's original opening.
Seven of the ten other micro-communities Johnston unveiled in August were canceled after neighbors pushed back and landowners pulled out of their respective deals with the city. The canceled micro-communities were set to be located in the Golden Triangle, Virginia Village, Holly Hills, Elyria-Swansea and Green Valley Ranch neighborhoods.
Plans for a micro-community at 950 West Alameda Avenue in the Baker neighborhood are in limbo, as the city has yet to decide whether the site is still needed.Both Elati Village and La Paz were supposed to open last December, per the city's contracts with the sites' service providers. Both the Gathering Place and CVC have said the delay won't affect the contracts; although CVC's contract does include a section that says the city will consider expanding La Paz to 120 units in June, that date will likely be pushed back, as the expansion was supposed to come six months after the site's original opening.
Seven of the ten other micro-communities Johnston unveiled in August were canceled after neighbors pushed back and landowners pulled out of their respective deals with the city. The canceled micro-communities were set to be located in the Golden Triangle, Virginia Village, Holly Hills, Elyria-Swansea and Green Valley Ranch neighborhoods.
"950 West Alameda has not been canceled, and it is still under consideration, but an official decision has not been made," says mayoral spokesperson Jose Salas.
The mayor has been relying on four hotels to house the bulk of the 1,000 people who moved indoors via the House1000 plan. The city has more than 900 units for homeless residents spread across the four hotels, according to the mayor's office.
The city is currently leasing the 289-unit DoubleTree Hotel at 4040 Quebec Street to house homeless residents; Johnston mentioned the site while unveiling his proposed micro-communities last August. It is still being used to house homeless residents, and the ballroom is employed for cold-weather sheltering when needed.
The Denver Housing Authority bought the 194-unit Best Western Hotel, also in Central Park, for $26 million in late July to lease it to Denver for the House1000 plan. Denver is still leasing that hotel in order to house homeless residents.
When the city was scrambling to house 800 people in order to meet the House1000 goal, it inked a lease-purchase agreement for the Embassy Suites at 7525 East Hampden Avenue in late November. The 205 rooms in the hotel, close to the canceled micro-community site in Holly Hills, are being used for homeless families; the city has converted the building into the Tamarac Family Shelter.
In December, council approved a lease for the Radisson Hotel at 4849 Bannock Street, which has 220 units and can house up to 250 people under the House1000 plan. The city has a $2 million, six-month contract with Bayaud Enterprises to service the site.
