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Points Courtyard

DENVER

Turning Neighborhoods Around

Hope in Five Points

In the late 1980s, Hope Communities, a faith-based CDC, purchased two large, deteriorated, and highly visible garden apartment properties in the Five Points area. Selective demolition followed by rehabilitation and infill construction began in 1988. Several complementary investments came on line in the early 1990s, including a new light rail transit stop and several city-funded commercial property improvements.

In the early 1990s, Hope formed a partnership with the Five Points Business Association to develop a mixed-use, primarily commercial project on Welton Street, the main commercial strip.   The first rehabilitation project to be successfully completed on that strip, it is widely believed to be the catalyst for subsequent improvements.   In fact, between 1989 and 1996, median home values in Five Points increased from $40,000 to $60,000, a relatively greater increase than in comparable Denver neighborhoods.

The 24-Hour Downtown

denver bus stio

A series of community summits have led to substantial progress in creating a “24-hour downtown.” Proposed zoning changes would encourage housing and transit oriented development while saving older downtown buildings for residential uses. An important goal has been to maintain downtown as the hub of the regional transportation system, as a means of both enhancing the mobility of Denver residents—and their ability to take new jobs in the suburbs—and supporting economic development. Since 1991, 51 vacant buildings have been redeveloped, and 2,600 residential units are planned or under construction, including two large multi-family rental developments.