On July 1, Mayor Michael B. Hancock and other officials celebrated the groundbreaking of 92 affordable condominiums located in the Santa Fe Arts District. Developed by the Elevation Community Land Trust (ECLT) and Shanahan Development, the La Tela condominiums will include 64 studio homes, 24 two-bedroom homes, and four three-bedroom homes, ranging from $149,900 to $199,900, exclusively for buyers earning up to 80 percent of the area median income.
“We’re excited to celebrate these new, affordable and much-needed condominiums that give hard-working Denver residents the ability to achieve homeownership. We’re also celebrating the significant expanded use of land trusts in Denver, which ultimately ensures affordability for the long term by putting land control in the hands of the community,” Mayor Hancock said.
Spanning four stories of residential homes over ground floor commercial space, La Tela will be the first 100 percent permanently affordable for-sale condominium development in Denver and the largest project completed by ECLT to date.
Through a land trust model, homeowners purchase the improvements and ECLT will maintain ownership of the land, leasing it back to owners under a 99-year renewable land lease to maintain permanent affordability.
“The opportunity to own a part of your community, to have a stable home, and to begin to grow generational wealth is a cornerstone of equity,” according to Stefka Fanchi, president & CEO of Elevation Community Land Trust. “At La Tela, 92 households, composed of nearly 150 people, will realize this opportunity and I can’t wait to see where it takes them.”
Jeff Shanahan, the developer of the project, stressed the importance of partnerships. “It has been a personal passion of mine to bring affordable homeownership to educators and other essential working households in Denver; we are grateful for the partnership with Elevation CLT, the Urban Land Conservancy, and so many other public and private entities that have made La Tela a reality.”
Denver’s Department of Housing Stability (HOST) provided a $3,675,000 performance loan from the city’s Affordable Housing Fund to help make the project viable. The project also received other public finance funds from the Colorado Department of Local Affairs, as well as a private philanthropic subsidy from Elevation Community Land Trust.
La Tela units will range from 352 to 1,050 square feet, and all homes feature nine-foot ceilings. Other amenities include Energy Star appliances; solid surface countertops; in-unit washer and dryer; on-site solar, energy efficient heat pumps; LED lighting; and bike storage. The project will also include approximately 2,000 square feet of commercial space and is walkable to the vibrant Santa Fe Arts District as well as multiple transportation lines.
