A downtown apartment building for elderly and disabled residents perhaps best known for its past bedbug infestation unveiled a $7 million renovation Wednesday.
Every single one of Halcyon House’s 197 Section 8-subsidized apartments has been renovated — to the tune of more than $30,000 per unit — and community areas have been refreshed and expanded, including a new, small movie theater for residents.
California-based GHC Housing Partners, which purchased the high rise at 1955 Arapahoe St. in January 2016, also recently signed a contract to ensure the apartments remain affordable for the next 20 years.
“There’s no reason that Section 8 housing can’t look as good as market-rate housing and can’t deliver the same quality of life as all housing,” CEO Gregory Perlman said during a grand re-opening celebration Wednesday. “There’s been a negative connotation going back to when I started about subsidized housing.”
The difference is clear as soon as you walk in through Halcyon House’s new front door.
Gone are the dingy linoleum, tired furniture and institutional color scheme from the “before” photos, replaced with comfy lounge areas, stone accents and eye-catching art.
The basement, previously a maintenance and storage area, is full of resident amenities, including a cardio fitness center, library, game room and movie theater. Outside, there’s a fire pit and shuffleboard court.
Apartments have all new appliances, quartz countertops, dark cabinets and plank flooring of the aesthetic you’d expect to see in much pricier downtown apartments.
Halcyon House had not been updated since it was built in the early 1980s, Perlman said. During the renovation, no residents had to move — contractors worked in units during the days, and residents were back in their beds every night.
As part of the ownership transition, GHC also added two full-time staffers dedicated to coordinating social service programming for Halcyon residents.
“If you put people in an old, rundown building, they’re going to treat it that way,” Perlman said. “We’re philosophically about giving people the best quality of life we can.”
Including Halcyon, GHC has acquired more than 2,000 affordable apartment units in Colorado over the last two years, making it the largest private owner of affordable housing in the state. Nationwide, GHC and its affiliate PK Management own and manage more than 20,000 units in 27 states.
As for those bed bugs, Halcyon resident Sherri Fitzwater, 55, said she hasn’t seen one since at least last fall.
“It’s gorgeous, inside and out. There’s no words to describe it,” she said. “I got to break in my appliances for the first time in my life — I never thought that would happen.”
Fitzwater, who also spoke at the grand re-opening ceremony, has lived at Halcyon House for four years. Since PK Management took over the building and renovations were completed, she has already noticed a huge difference — improved management, improved security and improving attitudes among residents.
“The residents, they are starting to take pride in the building,” Fitzwater said. “Most places when they renovate like this, they kick you out, they just turn you out. But we’re still here.”
