CREJ

February 2018 — Multifamily Properties Quarterly — Page 35 www.crej.com S ince the Lowry U.S. Air Force Base was decommissioned and closed in September 1994, sections of the former base have been redeveloped for residential and commercial uses, creating what is now known as the Lowry neighborhood of the city and county of Denver. The final section to be developed at Lowry will be the Boulevard One Neighborhood, which was once the southern end of Runway One. Vacant since September 2011, the 70-acre site is being redeveloped into a vibrant urban community, complete with a range of hous- ing options, intimate gathering spaces and paths that will lead to shops and offices. The site formerly housed the Air Force Finance Cen- ter that was known as the Buckley Annex. Pursuant to the McKinney Home- less Assistance Act of 1989 and the Base Closure and Community Rede- velopment Act of 1994, homeless providers, such as the Volunteers of America and other agencies, are given a high priority to use excess federal land for development of affordable housing. As part of the federal base closure process and initial site planning of the 70 acres of the Buckley Annex, a 1.5-acre tract was designated within the Boulevard One Neighborhood for affordable housing, which would specifically include 20 homeless units. Through this process, the Buck- ley Annex Homeless Consortium was formed and entered into an agreement with the Lowry Redevel- opment Author- ity to develop the 1.5-acre parcel. After a competi- tive request for proposal process, the BAHC awarded the development rights of the site to a partner- ship between the Denver Housing Authority and VOA in July 2015. Both VOA and DHA had an inter- est in responding to the RFP and developing the project. DHA does not have expertise in operating homeless housing, but VOA does. Thus, a partnership was formed between the two parties. Both part- ners are co-developers, co-owners and will be committed to operat- ing the property long term. VOA will provide services and on-site management and DHA will pro- vide construction management. The partnership put forward the highest-rated proposal to the Lowry Redevelopment Authority and offered two strong and experienced owners/providers. The partnership applied for and was awarded Colorado and federal low-income housing tax credits in 2016 to build the 72-unit project. The project will have 41 one-bed- room units, 22 two-bedroom units, eight three-bedroom units and one manager’s unit. Twenty-five of the units will be affordable to families with incomes at or below 30 percent of the area median income (with rental assistance from 33 project- based vouchers from DHA) and the balance at 50 percent of the AMI. Located at 6756 E. Archer Drive, construction began on the project in July with First Bank providing the construction and permanent loans, Enterprise Community the tax cred- it equity and low-interest rate “soft” loans from the state division of housing, city and county of Denver, and DHA. Site amenities include a community room, indoor play area and a rooftop deck. The architect is Parikh Stevens Architects and the general contractor is Pinkard Con- struction. Per the McKinney Homeless Act, the Lowry Redevelopment Author- ity was required to include afford- able housing (for rent and for sale) throughout Lowry and donated the land for the project, the final afford- able rental project needed to fulfill that commitment. Services, including Path to Home Ownership, financial literacy, nutri- tion/health, parenting, employ- ment/job search/job training, bene- fit acquisition and financial literacy/ skills will be provided by an on-site VOA coordinator and external part- ners. Construction is expected to be complete in August with stabilized occupancy in place by October. s DHA partnership: The Boulevard One Residences J onathan Rose was a keynote speaker at last fall’s Hous- ing Colorado NOW! Confer- ence and captivated the 800 people in the audience with his thoughtful approach to urban design and development. His book, “The Well-Tempered City,” takes us on a journey from early human civi- lization through the rise and fall of empires and into our current times. Through interdisciplinary studies of biology, sociology, economics and Baroque music, Rose’s five concept plan for transforming cities into resilient, healthy communities of opportunity comes alive. Inspired by Bach’s “Well-Tempered Clavier,” a groundbreaking musical composi- tion, Rose illustrates how it is pos- sible for the various systems of a city to exist in harmony. Through in-depth looks at cities throughout the ages and globe, we see the similarities of our own cit- ies to those of thousands of years ago and recognize the additional set of challenges created by modern advances in our volatile times. I had the opportunity to discuss the book within the framework of the Denver metro area with Jona- than Rose and his development partner at Denver- based Perry Rose, Chuck Perry. Parts two and three of “The Well- Tempered City” highlight trends of our current culture within the context of the Mayan civi- lization and the Roman Empire; as we reflect on the lessons of history, we can modify our habits as to not produce the same outcomes of those past societies. On a local scale, Rose discussed the importance of “con- tinuously learning what generates positive outcomes and to take them to scale. Every project, learn some- thing new and remember that, use it,” he said. From learning which low-flow toi- lets are most durable and effective to the adoption of high-efficiency details from Sendero Verde (the largest multifamily Passive House project in the U.S. – 655 units in East Harlem, New York) to other projects that lack the budget to meet Passive House design and energy-efficiency standards, success can be multi- plied exponentially by creating a culture of continuous learning. In addition to focusing on the improvement of environmen- tal aspects of projects, Rose and Perry discussed the importance of improving the quality of life for residents by incorporating on-site health assessments, community gardens and kitchens, exercise rooms, computers for after-school homework and libraries. For each project, they analyze health ame- nity placement within the project, how to equip it and how to get the cost down to take them to scale. They are implementing these con- tinuously learned lessons on their new developments like the Aria project in Northwest Denver and acquisition/transformation projects like Grand Lowry Lofts and Juanita. To provide these additional ser- vices within the framework of con- strained affordable housing devel- opment and operating budgets, Perry Rose funds a resident services coordinator and then partners with existing not-for-profits to facilitate access to them for residents. In parts four and five of “The Well- Tempered City,” Rose explores the power of these partnerships: com- munities of opportunity, the power of connection and shared resources, and entwinement. Diversity, from an ecosystem and social standpoint, is one of the key principles in parts three and four of “The Well-Tempered City” as well as the work of Perry Rose. Perry Rose focuses its work on diverse mixed- use, mixed-income communities. The Aria comprises an affordable homeownership partnership with Habitat for Humanity, affordable homeownership units in a cohous- ing component, and market-rate and affordable town homes and apartment home rentals. Growing up around the adaptive reuse of an aging convent building, the Aria embodies diverse building types as well as ecological and social diver- sity. “The Well-Tempered City” pro- vides a blueprint for functional, healthy and resilient cities. Its empowering message of hope makes it an essential read for anyone committed to community improvement. s Book review: ‘The Well-Tempered City’ by Rose Affordable Housing Spotlight Doug Snyder Senior development director, Volunteers of America, Denver The 91st Aero Squadron was an Air Service, U.S. Army unit that fought in France in World War I. Denver native Francis Brown Lowry joined that fabled unit in 1917, became a second lieutenant pilot/observer and was shot down by German gunfire in September 1918, becoming the only Colorado pilot to lose his life in that war. In 1935, the city of Denver pur- chased land and buildings that at one time had been a military academy, then a tuberculosis sanatorium, for construction of an airfield. In 1937, the city bid for and was awarded a new military airfield by the Army Air Corps that was named Lowry Field in March 1938 in honor of Lieutenant Lowry. The first runway to be built ran from the northeast to the south- west, was named Runway One and completed in 1941. The base was used to train pilots and bom- bardiers of B-29 bombers during World War II. After being renamed Lowry Air Force Base in 1948, the facility was used for training and served as the first home of the U.S. Air Force Academy from 1955-1958, until it was decommissioned and closed in September 1994. In a nice bit of historical sym- metry, the final resting place of Lt. Lowry is in Fairmount Cemetery just across Alameda Avenue to the south of the former base bearing his name. The man behind Lowry Air Force Base’s name Melissa McGinley Marketing manager and graphic designer, Workshop8, Boulder ects using a wide variety of creative funding structres. Metro West Housing Solutions was able to leverage funds by refinancing properties in its portfolio, using the funds to acquire land along the West RTD light-rail line and build a vari- ety of attractive projects there and purchase an office building. Housing Catalyst’s story as a developer is reflected in its proper- ties. The recently opened Village on Redwood is a 72-apartment com- munity designed to meet high-level green building and neighborhood standards and to blend well with the neighborhood and the homes sur- rounding it. While times have changed, the need for housing affordable to lower-income families hasn’t, and it is good for the country that hous- ing authorities have changed. What used to be readily identifiable as “public” housing now looks the same as that built by the private sector. s Iwanski Continued from Page 34