DENVER - On Thursday morning, Denver City leaders celebrated the grand opening of The Reserves at Green Valley Ranch, a mixed-income apartment complex.
The Reserves — a 216-unit community with 144 units reserved for residents who make less than $62,600 a year — was developed by Overland Property Group and is managed by Mission Rock Residential.
“When you have six grandkids and you try to take care of those six grandkids based on your income, you have to rob Peter to pay Paul. You know, you have to squeeze the turnip juice,” said Alice Price, a new resident at The Reserves. “But we have made it on the grace of God by being blessed with the resources that Denver has for families.”
Price said when she received custody of her grandchildren in 2015, she was living in a 2-bedroom apartment.
“Trying to find a place like this, it was hard. And it took me seven years to do that,” the grandmother said.
Price’s new home has three bedrooms.
According to Zillow, the median rent price in Denver is $2,216 a month.
There are currently 26,000 income-restricted units in Denver. But according to the Denver Department of Housing Stability (HOST) the city needs 20,000 more units for Denver households earning below 50% of the area median income — an income of $41,050 for a single-person household, or $58,600 for a family of four.
The City and County of Denver provided $2,160,000 in financing from the Affordable Housing Fund for The Reserves at Green Valley Ranch.
According to HOST, a total of 995 affordable units that have received city financing are currently under construction at 14 sites throughout Denver. An additional 757 income-restricted units are in the planning stage.