Colorado's Urban Land Conservancy (ULC) is a nonprofit organization that works on community asset preservation in urban Denver communities.
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History
The Urban Land Conservancy was established in 2003 with capital from the Gary-Williams Energy Corporation.
ULC was established to invest in real estate to support community interests. Founding board members determined ULC would use community engagement to determine neighborhood needs and began with a focus on acquiring, creating or ensuring the long term availability of physical space for non-profit and community organizations; addressing different types of housing needs; addressing educational needs for children and adults; ensuring convenient and affordable access to child care services.
ULC's focus remains on opportunities where real estate can be acquired and controlled to help create meaningful long term community benefits.
Maps Urban Land Conservancy
Approach
ULC works to permanently secure urban real estate in the Denver Metropolitan area for the benefit of the community. ULC engages in partnerships with other stakeholders such as nonprofits, community groups, developers, and government agencies to address community needs including affordable housing along transit, mixed-use developments, schools, affordable office space for nonprofits and community centers.
ULC uses real estate assets and capital to leverage public and private resources for future community investment. ULC's work includes community-directed real estate development and land banking for future development opportunities. The organization stewards community assets by maintaining ties with developers and continuing ownership of the land.
Properties and Projects
Transit Oriented Development Fund
In 2004, FasTracks, a public transportation expansion of Colorado's Regional Transportation District was approved by Denver voters. FasTracks is a 12-year project to expand commuter rail, light rail and bus transit services in the Denver Metro area.
Urban Land Conservancy, the City of Denver and Enterprise Community Partners created the Transit-Oriented Development (TOD) Fund in 2010. Other collaborating organizations in the project included MacArthur Foundation, Colorado Housing and Finance Authority, Mile High Community Loan Fund, Rose Community Foundation, U.S. Bank, Wells Fargo and FirstBank.
The TOD Fund was created to develop and preserve 1,000 affordable homes along current and future transit corridors in Denver. Sites purchased through the Fund are within one-half mile of fixed-rail transit stations or one-quarter mile of high-frequency bus stops.
The Urban Land Conservancy, made the initial equity commitment of $1.5 million to the TOD Fund and leads real estate acquisition, management and disposition of assets to housing providers to meet the priorities of the Fund.
TOD properties
The 11th Avenue TOD is a property located less than 1/4 mile from the future Sheridan Station on the West Line corridor of FasTracks that will be developed into 58 affordable housing units for seniors. The construction and design will be managed by ULC and Rocky Mountain Communities.
The Blake TOD is a site located on the first stop of the East Corridor Commuter Line which will connect Downtown Union Station to Denver International Airport and will be developed as a mixed-use transit oriented development.
The Dahlia Apartments is a property in northeast Park Hill that includes 36 affordable homes near a high frequency bus line.
The Evans Station Lofts is a 50 unit affordable housing property under construction at the Evans Light Rail Station.
Vacant land at Yale Light Rail Station is in development to become a working transit-oriented community.
Mile High Vista is a two-acre site along the west FasTracks light rail corridor that will include the new West Denver library, a mixed-use workforce housing development with Del Norte Neighborhood Development, and a commercial building.
Villa TOD is Located 5 blocks from light rail in the Santa Fe Arts District this property has 16 units of affordable housing and 7,400 square feet of commercial space.
Affordable Housing
ULC engages in preservation and development of other affordable housing. Current properties include:
A property at 25th and Stout, near the 25th & Welton light rail station that will be the site of 9 "healthy homes."
A property at 3975 Colorado Blvd was purchased by ULC to provide transitional housing services to homeless families along transit routes in partnership with Colorado Coalition for the Homeless (CCH). CCH successfully purchased the property back from ULC in January 2012.
Jody Apartments, a 62-unit multifamily community at 10th Avenue and Sheridan Boulevard, will be redeveloped in conjunction with the construction of Sheridan Station on the new West Line Corridor of FasTracks.
The Villas at Wadsworth Station is a 100-unit rental property is located at the Wadsworth Light Rail Station on the West Corridor of FasTracks and is meant to preserve existing affordable housing at a light rail station that was scheduled to open in 2013.
Land Banking
Traditionally, land banking is a real estate technique in which raw properties are purchased and sold once it becomes profitable to do so. ULC uses land banking to acquire and develop properties to benefit communities before the land becomes too expensive for community groups or affordable housing developers to purchase it.
Many of ULC's projects have used land banking including the 11th Avenue, Blake, Evans Station Lofts, Mile High Vista, I-25 and Yale station TOD projects. Another project - the 2000 Block of Glenarm--is also land banked and will eventually become a mixed use development.
Community Resource Preservation
ULC has acquired real estate to ensure community assets, such as schools, nonprofit organizations' shared work spaces and community centers are preserved. ULC ensures that properties will benefit communities for the long term by putting land leases in place whenever possible. ULC projects of this nature include:
The Curtis Park Community Center, located 5 blocks from several bus routes and the Welton and 29th light rail station, this center was renovated to house the Family Star Montessori school. The Curtis Park Nonprofit Center sits adjacent to the community center and provides affordable office space for nonprofits including Family Star, African American Leadership Institute and the Denver Shared Space Project (DSSP). The center serves as a DSSP site.
The Habitat for Humanity Denver Home Improvement Outlet was acquired by Habitat for Humanity with a below market bridge loan from ULC.
The former Holly Square Shopping Center is being redeveloped after burning down in 2008. The property has been improved to include interim benefits such as basketball and soccer courts as the Nancy P. Anschutz Community Center, home of the Jack A. Vickers Boys & Girls Club is constructed.
ULC is providing a below market PRI loan to NEWSED for the preservation of this shared space nonprofit facility.
ULC preserved the 100+ year old Tennyson Center for Children during a financial crisis and in January 2011, successfully sold the campus back to the school.
The Tramway Nonprofit Center is Located in northeast Denver and houses 10 nonprofit organizations, and has undergone significant capital improvements and renovation by ULC. ULC has a first right of refusal on the Wyatt School, a historic building across the street from Tramway.
Partnerships
ULC has partnerships with both national and local non-profits, for-profits and public organizations to advance their mission. ULC is a member/partner of the following organizations and coalitions:
Mile High Connects-- a nonprofit that aims to increase access to housing, employment, schools and other services through public transit.
Denver Regional Housing Collaborative-- a group of many Colorado affordable housing organizations working to provide advocacy and leadership for affordable housing.
Denver Livability Partnership-- a partnership meant to expand affordable housing, increase access to employment and create better modes of transportation that connect Denver.
Community Development Partnership-- a group of community developers, foundations and financial institutions who work together on housing and economic development opportunities in Denver.
Practitioners Leveraging Assets for Community Enhancement (PLACE)- a unified voice of housing and community development practitioners who build, preserve, and maintain adequate and affordable housing and promote community development for low and moderate income families across the country. Members are expert end-users of federal, state and private housing and community development funding, leveraging various sources of capital to build and strengthen America's communities.
Denver Regional Council of Governments (DRCOG) Sustainable Communities Initiative--a consortium funded by a $4.5 million award from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development that supports a regional plan for growth and development particularly in regard to FasTracks.
Holly Area Redevelopment Project -- In partnership with actively engaged neighbors, ULC, assisted by City of Denver's Office of Economic Development, Strengthening Neighborhoods (a program of The Denver Foundation) and Community by Design consultants, initiated the first phase of the Holly Area Redevelopment Project (HARP). This effort brought the community together to see the site once again serve as an anchor for the Northeast Park Hill area. A key component of the broadly supported plan was the establishment of "Good Neighbor Principles" which is guiding redevelopment plans for the Holly property.
Media coverage
A 2012 Huffington Post blog post features successes in Denver to connect affordable housing and jobs through transit projects, and describes the creation of the Denver TOD Fund.
ULC's work to redevelop west Colfax Avenue in Denver was included in a 2012 issue of Urban Land, a publication of the Urban Land Institute. Several media outlets including the Denver Post, Westword, and the local CBS affiliate covered the redevelopment of one of ULC's projects--Holly Square--in 2012.
Another ULC project that garnered media coverage was the purchase of the Wadsworth Boulevard light rail station, which was written about by the Denver Post, the Denver Business Journal, and Yahoo! Finance among many others.
The New York Times highlighted ULC's work to develop affordable housing along transit corridors while covering the challenges of Denver's FasTracks program in 2009.
See also
- Urban planning
- Green development
- Real estate development
- Land-use planning
- Property preservation
- Transit-oriented development
References
Source of article : Wikipedia
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