The City of Denver has purchased or leased over half a dozen large properties to meet the mayor’s goal of housing the homeless.
The city got over 1,000 people off the streets and into housing between July and December of last year, according to Mayor Mike Johnston.
He credits that in part to acquiring over 1,200 units of housing since his administration began in July.
“The number of people that needed services was going to require us to be aggressive about bringing on units that was I think one of the biggest challenges about why the city has not succeeded in the past,” Mayor Johnston told Denver7.
Critics said those numbers are misleading. Not all of those counted met the metric of being sheltered for 14 days or more.
Denver purchased a lot of real estate to meet these goals, including the Best Western for nearly $26 million in the Central Park neighborhood, the Stay Inn for $9 million in the Montbello neighborhood and the Embassy Suites for $21 million in south Denver.
“It’s better to buy than it is to rent if you can do that we’d love like to own these assets where we can,” Johnston said.