DENVER — A renovated office building converted into an affordable housing complex is now home for the first few people who began moving in this past week.
“It's a blessing and I thank God that I was accepted into the program,” Rashid Sayles said as he spoke from inside a new apartment at 655 Broadway.
Sayles, 53, uses a wheelchair after a gunshot injury paralyzed him from the waist down. He said his new home will help him focus on physical therapy and walking again without stressing about housing.
“I'll be alright. I'll be walking, hopefully by the summer. That's my goal,” Sayles said.
Sayles is among the first residents to move into the former office building the Denver Housing Authority purchased from Denver Health for $5 million in 2020.
Thanks to $18 million in tax credits from a nonprofit, the 110-unit complex will serve as home for people who are at risk of experiencing homelessness, live with disabilities or have been discharged from the hospital with nowhere to go.
Denver Health will manage one floor of the building for people who have been discharged from the hospital without any immediate place to live.
Monthly rent will range from $650 to $1,700, with some of the costs covered by government assistance. The building also has a gym on the first floor.
“And to be able to repurpose a building that's already here, that is so centrally located and has access to amenities, is really quite incredible. And again, it's 100% affordable,” Erin Clark with the Denver Housing Authority said.
“These are our friends and neighbors throughout Denver that are in need of affordable housing,” she said.
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