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November 22, 2022

Is a Housing Solution Hiding in Colfax’s Many Old Motels?

City Cast Denver

Is a Housing Solution Hiding in Colfax’s Many Old Motels?

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Everyone knows Denver’s got a housing shortage — but so many proposed fixes seem too expensive, too controversial, or just too out of reach. So what if we took some of the city’s existing structures and turned them into, well, places for people to live? That’s what Monica Martinez and The Fax Partnership decided to do when they bought two dilapidated old motels on East Colfax. These vestiges of a time when Route 40 was a tourism paradise have since become makeshift affordable housing — but Monica hopes her organization can bring stability, upgrades, and eventually, more housing to these properties. Monica joins host Bree Davies to explain why, as executive director of an East Colfax-centered non-profit, she chose to take on the housing crisis, one motel at a time. 


Bree also mentioned this Denverite report on Denver Rescue Mission. 

 

For the latest affordable housing developments and other news from around the city, subscribe to our morning newsletter Hey Denver by texting “Denver” to 66866


As of this writing, we are (were?) still on Twitter: @citycastdenver


Leave us a voicemail with your name and neighborhood, and you might hear it on the show: (720) 500-5418‬


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