Two trailer parks in Denver’s Westwood neighborhood will be sold and replaced with 185 apartment units with the help of grants from the city.
Denver approved a deal to loan $2 million of the city’s federal Community Development Block Grants for 21 years to St. Charles Holding Company to acquire the property in the 4400 block of Morrison Road spanning both the north and south sides.
“There’s a huge need in Denver for affordable housing at all income levels,” Denver City Councilman Paul Lopez said. Lopez represents the area and said this deal gives the city some “skin in the game” to bring more affordable housing to the area.
St. Charles Holding is set to close on the land Sept. 9. Residents in both the Belmont and Shady Nook mobile home parks will be given 90 days notice to vacate in the spring, meaning the residents will be displaced sometime in June 2015.
“They have almost a year before they are physically affected,” said John Lucero, deputy director of Denver’s Office of Economic Development.
Also moving will be La California Panaderia on the south side of Morrison Road and Ortega Auto Repair at 4331 Morrison Road.
The St. Charles Holding Company declined to comment due to the pending status of the sale, and the property owners, Vince and Marley Vranesic, did not return phone calls.
Residents of both Belmont and Shady Nook received letters informing them that the property was being sold. Lucero and Lopez met with several members of the two parks on July 31. Lucero said the developer is committed to helping the current residents relocate and Lopez said he hopes to secure a right of first refusal for current trailer park residents should they qualify for affordable housing.
A letter to the council from the Westwood Residents Association expressed concern over whether the residents would be able to receive relocation money because they are undocumented. Lucero said the relocation funding would come from the developer and that all residents would be able to meet with relocation specialists.
Lopez said he didn’t know how many, if any, of the residents are undocumented but that all parties involved should receive money for relocation.
“For me, they are living and breathing in this country and they should be treated as such,” he said.
Construction should begin on the affordable housing units shortly after the two trailer parks are razed; the goal is to have new units open by late 2016.
For the Morrison Road affordable housing project, a family or individual must make 60 percent or less of the area median income. For one person the cutoff would be $32,220 per year. A family of four could earn up to $46,020 and qualify.
“We want to make sure, no matter the income level, people should have access to clean, affordable, safe and decent housing,” Lopez said. “That’s a standard in Denver that we have to protect.”
Residents at the Belmont Mobile Home Park said they were surprised to hear the news. Many residents own their trailer outright and pay around $400 per month for the lot space.
“We were shocked, we didn’t really expect it,” said Reveca Garcia, who lives in a trailer with her husband and four children. She and her husband are saving money because they aren’t sure what they will receive from the developer to relocate. She would like to stay in the area to keep her children in their school.
One resident, Leobardo Jaquez, said he was sad because the trailer park was a close-knit community. He has lived there for seven years.
He added: “Everybody knows everybody. It’s kind of sad. It won’t be the same.”
Joe Vaccarelli: 303-954-2396, jvaccarelli@denverpost.com or twitter.com/joe_vacc
