Renaissance West End Flats integrates housing and health care for the homeless and at risk in Denver.

The development features 50 apartments for formerly homeless individuals and families and 50 for low-income households earning no more than 60 percent of the area median income.

As a result, Renaissance West End works to end as well as prevent homelessness, says developer John Parvensky, president of the Colorado Coalition for the Homeless (CCH).

Reaching beyond housing, the ambitious project is home to the 5,500-square-foot West End Health Center that delivers medical and mental health services to residents and other needy families in the neighborhood. Prior to the development’s opening, Denver’s West Side lacked a health center for its most vulnerable residents.

“We always look for developments to meet as many community needs as they can,” Parvensky says.

That includes neighborhood revitalization. Renaissance West End sets a new tone for the area by replacing an abandoned biker bar.

The development, which meets Enterprise Green Communities standards, is the first multifamily project in the city utilizing Neighborhood Stabilization Program 2 funds to revitalize a foreclosed and deteriorating commercial property.

The $17.4 million development is financed with low-income housing tax credit equity from U.S. Bancorp Community Development Corp. for the housing portion alongside capital grants from the federal Health Resources and Services Administration for the health center. Combined costs, such as land acquisition, were shared, thereby reducing expenses for each component.

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