Three Denver hotels that were repurposed into homeless shelters are transitioning to new management and a fourth is closing, signs that the city’s plan to end tent homelessness is in flux.
Denver’s Department of Housing Stability is using four former hotels — down by about half from the height of the city’s hotel-shelter program — that house people who were living on the streets or in nightly shelters and, ideally, are headed toward permanent housing. Those are:
- A former Best Western, also near Interstate 70 and Quebec, now called the Stone Creek Shelter. The shelter has been run by the Salvation Army for $4.2 million per year. St. Francis Center will take over Jan. 1 for $6.5 million, a proposed contract that includes security services. The contract is pending City Council approval.
- A former DoubleTree on Quebec Street now called The Aspen Shelter. The shelter, just south of Interstate 70, has been operated by the Salvation Army under a $7 million contract. Beginning in January, and pending City Council approval, Urban Alchemy, a national organization that began in California, will take over management. The proposed contract amount is $9.89 million. The new contract will include security services.
- A former Embassy Suites on Hampden Avenue in southeastern Denver now known as the Tamarac Family Shelter. The Salvation Army provides services under a $9.78 million contract. Bayaud Works, a nonprofit focused on housing and job opportunities, will take over Jan. 1, pending City Council approval and a new contract yet to be determined. The council is scheduled to discuss the contract next week.
- The Comfort Inn Shelter, also by I-70 and Quebec. St. Francis Center has provided services at the shelter through a $3.1 million contract, but the shelter is closing in March.
The hotel shelters are part of Denver Mayor Mike Johnston’s “All in Mile High” initiative to move people off the streets and into temporary and permanent housing. Since July 2023, the city has counted 7,500 people moved to shelter and 6,200 moved to housing, according to the city’s dashboard. As the city decreases its use of hotel shelters, more emphasis is going toward drug treatment and permanent housing, officials said.
St. Francis Center announced its new contract to operate the Stone Creek Shelter last week, saying that it was “deepening” its role with Denver’s hotel shelter system as part of its “long-standing commitment to supporting individuals on their journey from homelessness to housing.”…