Mercy Housing Begins Construction on Bluff Lake Apartment Homes in Denver

November 21, 2011

by Colorado RealEstateRama

Category: Press Releases || Housing & Development, Property, Rentals, Transactions | 6 Comments

KTGY-designed $11.5 Million Community Offers High Quality, Eco-Friendly Workforce Housing

DENVER, CO – November 21, 2011 – (RealEstateRama) — Award-winning KTGY Group, Inc., Architecture + Planning, is pleased to announce the construction of Bluff Lake Apartment Homes, a new high-quality, eco-friendly residential community for 92 families earning between 30 percent and 50 percent of the area median income. This $11.5 million affordable housing community is the result of extensive collaboration with leading national affordable housing developer Mercy Housing, the City of Denver, and architecture and planning firm KTGY Group in Denver. Bluff Lake Apartment Homes is slated to be completed by spring 2012.

Designed by KTGY Group, Mercy Housing’s Bluff Lake Apartment Homes will offer 92 thoughtfully-planned apartment homes ranging in size from 615 square feet to 1209 square feet and include 36 one, 46 two- and 10 three-bedroom homes. The four-story apartment community is located on 2.33 acres, northeast of the planned Eastbridge Town Center in Forest City’s master-planned community of Stapleton at the intersection of E. 31st Avenue Street and Hanover Street. Fifty percent of the apartments at Bluff Lake Apartment Homes will be dedicated to assisting families in transition as part of the Denver’s Road Home initiative to end homelessness. Rent is expected to range from $250 to $950 per month, based on family size and income level.

According to Denver’s Road Home organization, the most commonly reported reasons for homelessness in the Denver area are loss of a job (35 percent), housing costs (31 percent), and the breakup of a family (20 percent); 60 percent of the homeless in Denver are people in families with children. Mercy Housing and KTGY intend to counter these statistics by providing a stable, service-enriched home for residents of Bluff Lake Apartment Homes.

“Mercy Housing is committed to developing affordable, program-enriched housing for low-income families, seniors and people with special needs who lack the economic resources to access quality, safe housing opportunities,” said Jennifer Erixon, Senior Vice President of Real Estate Development and Asset Management. “Mercy Housing offers a free supportive onsite resident services program recognizing that shelter alone is not sufficient for residents’ success and well-being.”

Bluff Lake Apartment Homes will feature a spacious community room for larger resident meetings and after-school programming and daycare services, a computer lab, a fully-equipped kitchen, smaller group meeting spaces, landscaped courtyard areas, a 3,000-square-foot playground, and convenient laundry facilities. An additional 3,000-square-foot building will be used for community functions for the surrounding neighborhood.

Convenient to employment, shopping, services, parks and recreation, Bluff Lake Apartment Homes is approximately 10 minutes from Downtown Denver. There is also a new light rail line planned along the I-70 corridor. Within walking distance from the site is a new community center, the Sandcreek Regional Greenway, and Bluff Lake with its system of walking trails.

“Bluff Lake Apartment Homes’ design is modern contemporary and the location’s urban context provides easy access to the greater Stapleton community with the single-family neighborhood to the west,” said KTGY’s Principal Michael Ohara, AIA and the designer of Bluff Lake Apartment Homes. “The apartment community’s surface parking on the east side of the site provides a buffer from a busy north/south arterial street.”

Ohara continues, “Oftentimes, when residents hear the words ‘affordable housing,’ they immediately envision substandard housing and an owner that doesn’t care about the property or its residents or neighbors. This is certainly not the case with Mercy Housing, one of the top affordable housing developers in the nation. Mercy Housing is known for their quality and dedication to creating and preserving affordable housing for those with the fewest options.”

Bluff Lake Apartment Homes’ attractive, sustainable design, cohesive layout and high quality residential living encourage healthy living and a sense of community among the residents. “The placement of shared spaces such as the community center, lobby, and courtyard elevate the importance of onsite resident services and social interaction and increase resident satisfaction,” said Ohara.

Some of the eco-friendly design features include ENERGY STAR rated appliances and energy-efficient lighting; water-saving fixtures in the kitchen and bathrooms; dual flush toilets; tankless water heaters; the use of low-VOC paints, adhesives and finishes, and low dust stucco; building materials that contain recycled content and do not emit harmful chemicals; and low water landscaping. A high percentage of the construction waste will be recycled. Catamount Constructors, Inc. in Evergreen, Co. is the general contractor.

“We are pleased to be partnering with KTGY to develop affordable housing for families desperately in need of safe and quality homes,” said Erixon. “Bluff Lake Apartments will provide our residents the opportunity to stabilize their lives and focus on building a brighter future for themselves and their families.”

This will be Mercy Housing’s second affordable housing development in the Stapleton community. In 2005, Mercy Housing opened Parkside Apartments in Stapleton, which provides 68 affordable homes. The organization currently owns and manages over 16,000 units of housing nationwide. including the Denver area, Colorado Springs, Fort Collins, Fraser and Durango.

For leasing information about Bluff Lake Apartments, please call 303.800.9404.

About Denver’s Road Home

Denver’s Road Home is a comprehensive plan about creating opportunity and helping people regain control of their lives. A variety of services are offered for both short and long term assistance, including services to prevent people from becoming homeless in the first place as well as employment, substance treatment, mental health and permanent housing. For more information, visit www.denversroadhome.org.

About Mercy Housing

Mercy Housing, a national not-for-profit affordable housing organization headquartered in Denver, has a presence in 44 states, serves more than 135,000 people on any given day and has participated in the development, financing or operation of more than 39,000 homes. Mercy Housing serves families, seniors and people with special needs (formerly homeless, people with HIV/AIDS and the developmentally disabled). For more information about Mercy Housing, please visit www.mercyhousing.org.

About KTGY Group

Celebrating 20 years this month, KTGY Group, Inc., Architecture and Planning, provides comprehensive planning and award-winning architectural design services for residential communities, retail, hospitality, mixed-use and related specialty developments. KTGY delivers innovative solutions that reflect clear understanding of development, market trends and financial performance and takes particular pride in its highly motivated and principal led studios. Serving clients worldwide, KTGY maintains offices in Irvine, Oakland and Santa Monica, Calif., Denver, Colo., and Tysons Corner, Va. See www.ktgy.com.

# # #

ANNE MONAGHAN
MONAGHAN COMMUNICATIONS

t: 830.997.0963 | anne (at) MonaghanPR (dot) com
c: 949.677.2933 | f: 888.889.8953

Tagged as: KTGY Group

Comments

Pingback by Mercy Housing Begins Construction on KTGY-designed Bluff Lake Apartment Homes … – Newswire Today (press release) | slave2design on November 22, 2011 @ 1:50 am

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Pingback by Mercy Housing Begins Construction on KTGY-designed Bluff Lake Apartment Homes … – Newswire Today (press release) | New Home Developments on November 22, 2011 @ 2:11 am

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Pingback by Water Wars | Shark Pack on November 22, 2011 @ 10:27 am

[...] Mercy Housing Begins Construction on Bluff Lake Apartment Homes in Denver Some of the eco-friendly design features include ENERGY STAR rated appliances and energy-efficient lighting; water-saving fixtures in the kitchen and bathrooms; dual flush toilets; tankless water heaters; the use of low-VOC paints, adhesives and … Read more on RealEstateRama (press release) [...]

Pingback by Mercy Housing Begins Construction on Bluff Lake Apartment Homes in Denver | Colorado News | Colorado Breaking News Headlines | Colorado News Directory on November 22, 2011 @ 5:42 pm

[...] DENVER, CO – Nov 21, 2011 – (RealEstateRama) — Award-winning KTGY Group, Inc., Architecture + Planning, is gratified to announce a construction of Bluff Lake Apartment Homes, a new high-quality, eco-friendly residential village for 92 families earning between 30 percent and 50 percent of a area median income. This $11.5 million affordable housing village is a outcome of endless partnership with heading inhabitant affordable housing developer Mercy Housing, a City of……Read the Full Article at: http://colorado.realestaterama.com/2011/11/21/mercy-housing-begins-construction-on-bluff-lake-apartm... [...]

Pingback by Can Affordable Housing Be Eco-Friendly, Too? | EarthTechling on December 5, 2011 @ 7:01 am

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Comment by Rondalyn Jones on January 2, 2012 @ 5:50 pm

I hope my son and I are one of the selected families for this new housing.

I would like to be a part of something so special, I will take care of our apartment and always be very thankful of all the effort put into place to make this a new healthy home for us.

All I need is a stable environment for us to live, my previous landlord under section 8 caused us to become homeless all within 20 days and with no accountability from section 8.

I know that the fair housing failed my family. I am afraid to deal with landlords now because this has happened to me twice already, these
landlords are violating fine lines of the law because they ‘own’ the property.

They are receiving government funding and could care less about us and our children and the livelyhood in which we reside.

If anyone cares, PLEASE let these landlords know that they are PART OF A PLAN TO END HOMELESSNESS not just ‘build up their 401k’ Really?? Even if it costs me my job, personal belongings, judgement of character and even close relationships because we are homeless, it’s like we have a bad contagious infection or something…wow!

This is a shame that section 8 pays someone ‘they never’ even talk to, they just send a check as I was told when I ask for a mediation to discuss how my dwelling unit was being violated by the landlord and her husband while they run a business under a different entity so they appear to be someone else.

SAD for our economy if you ask me. How much money is being lost on funding the homeless due to stories like mine?! I was 8 months in a 12 yr lease and Section 8 shouldn’t have allowed me to become homeless as no fault of my own.

I want to live in something like this because I would feel safe to know many other people are interested in our living conditions and provide us with an environment that will encourage and support our progress!!!

The stress of this has been very heavy and sometimes very unpredictable.

I want to be a role model for other women with their children someday, this is subject that has become very very close to my heart and I hope other women stay strong and persistent and not give up or give in to temptations to provide for our families when we are in need.

Dear God, thank you for your love, grace and MERCY housing! Smile, that is how I have kept it together some days. I try to find some laughter in my struggle. I have plans for the new year and I won’t give up! I just need my own place where I can call home to prosper and keep on moving ahead.

I applaud your mission statement MERCY HOUSING Denver, CO 2012