DENVER — The City of Denver is no longer moving forward with its plans for a micro-community at Tower Road and 50th in Green Valley Ranch.
Neighbors learned of the scratched plans during a community meeting with Denver Councilwoman At-Large Serena Gonzales-Gutierrez Thursday evening.
"My goal was to start by having these smaller conversations at local community establishments," said Gonzales-Gutierrez.
Attendees said they wanted more information about the progress of Denver Mayor Mike Johnston's House1000 initiative, which aims to get 1,000 people off the streets by the end of the year. The mayor has proposed building several micro-communities across the city in order to accomplish that goal.
The mayor held a community meeting in August to discuss the possibility of a micro-community in the area. Several community members thought plans were still moving forward and were surprised to hear Thursday's news.
"We're so thankful that that has been canceled," said Kathy Schultz, who attended Thursday's meeting. "There's a high school to grade schools and a middle school, all within easy walking distance of where that micro community was going. It was a disaster."
In a statement, the City of Denver said it was no longer moving forward with the micro-community due to costs.
“After further review and evaluation, we determined that the site at 5000 Tower Rd. is not economically viable to develop due to costs to develop the land," a city spokesperson said in a statement.
While the Tower Road location won't move forward, the mayor's office said "the administration is committed to opening a micro-community in every city council district."
This is not the first proposed micro-community to be dropped. Johnston cited logistical and operational challenges as reasons for canceling the micro-community planned for 5500 E. Yale Avenue. In a last-minute change, the mayor reduced the number of people who will initially live in a micro-community in the Overland neighborhood.
