Denver says a deal to sell a motel along Peoria Street, which has sat empty since the city bought it to the house the homeless in 2023, could happen this year.
Wednesday marks 2 1/2 years to the day since the city paid $9 million for the former Stay Inn at 12033 E. 38th Ave., saying it would be turned into supportive housing for the homeless.
But the 4-story motel, which Denver boarded up after buying, has yet to house anyone.
In August, Julia Marvin, spokeswoman for Denver’s Department of Housing Stability, said the city was talking to “a potential development partner” that would buy the property from Denver for $10. She said staff hoped to bring the deal before the City Council by the end of the year.
That didn’t happen. But Marvin said a deal is still in the works and could go before council in the spring.
“Since we last connected in August, our negotiations and due‑diligence work with the selected development partner has made progress with key elements of the project’s proposed financing recently coming together,” said Marvin, who didn’t identify the development partner.
Denver has talked about housing people in the building just south of Interstate 70 for more than four years.
In May 2021, then-Mayor Michael Hancock and U.S. Rep. Diana DeGette held a news conference at the motel to announce that the city would buy it. It took 27 months, until August 2023, for that deal to close.
Since then, the motel has sat unused even as the city’s new mayor, Mike Johnston, has bought or leased other hotels around the city and quickly moved in people off the streets.
The property sits empty and in Denver hands even as the city looks for ways to cut costs, from laying off 169 people last August to cutting cable at the city’s recreation centers.
The former Stay Inn was renovated to include kitchenettes and a new sprinkler system by the previous owner, who told BusinessDen when the sale closed in 2023 that “people could have been living here years ago.”
City officials, however, said in 2024 that the building needed more work before it could house people, saying “possible renovations include structural repairs to walkways and railings and electrical system repairs.”
Denver originally planned to do that work itself but decided in the fall of 2024 instead to sell the property for the aforementioned $10. According to the request for proposals, it would be sold with a covenant requiring the property to operate as income-restricted housing for 99 years.
City officials have previously said the building also needs to be rezoned to house people. The city scheduled rezoning hearings for the property in 2024, only to cancel them. They have since said a buyer will be responsible for rezoning.
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