OPENPUBLICA · PUBLIC MEETING RECORD
Record of Proceedings

Denver Community Planning & Housing Committee Meeting – January 13, 2026

Council Committees — Tuesday, January 13, 2026
BodyDenver, Colorado
SessionCouncil Committees
DateTuesday, January 13, 2026
StatusFILED
Video Record
0:00 / 2:01:29
Transcript — Verbatim
0:00

Welcome back to this weekly meeting of the Community Planning and Housing Committee with Denver City Council.

0:09

Your Community Planning and Housing Committee starts now.

0:16

Well, good afternoon everyone. Thank you for joining us to the Community Planning and Housing Committee.

0:23

I'm Diana Romero-Campbell, and I'm happy to chair for this meeting today.

0:31

Do we have any council members online?

0:34

Okay, we will have some join with us later.

0:37

I'm going to go ahead and start with introductions, and to my right.

0:40

Amanda Sawyer, District 5.

0:42

Floral Idris, Lucky District 7.

0:44

Daryl Watson, Fine District 9.

0:46

And again, I'm Diana Romero-Campbell, representing Southeast Denver, District 4.

0:51

Perfect timing.

0:52

Jamie Torres, West Ender Mission Creek.

0:54

Lovely.

0:55

Let's go ahead and get started with our first presentation from Host.

0:59

And Evie, I believe you're going to kick it off.

1:02

I am.

1:03

Thanks for the intro.

1:04

I am Evie Benja.

1:05

I am the Assistant Director of Homelessness Resolution over at Host.

1:09

And I oversee our Housing Central Command.

1:12

And I've got Midori here with me.

1:14

Great, Higa.

1:14

She, her pronouns, Director of Homelessness Resolution Programs.

1:17

Thanks for the early start today.

1:20

Awesome.

1:21

So today we're going to be going through our 2026 overview of our Housing Central Command

1:26

operations.

1:29

For reference, when we're talking about the body of work that this falls into for host,

1:34

it falls into our rehousing category.

1:36

So inclusive of rapid rehousing programs, supportive housing programs, including vouchers

1:42

and stability case management.

1:45

Our action requested today is approval of the following contracts related to Housing Central Command.

1:52

So 25-2152 for the community firms who does business's Community Economic Defence Project for their HCC navigation.

2:02

The 2026 cost for that is $1,243,974.

2:09

25-2154, Colorado Coalition for the Homelessness.

2:15

but for the homeless, HCC stabilization contract for the 2026 amount of $2,231,731,

2:24

and 25-2153 for Housing Connector, the Housing Central Command rent payer and unit acquisition,

2:33

for a 2026 amount of $2,049,386.

2:37

dollars. To give an overview of what Housing Central Command is, it's a crisis response model

2:45

based in emergency management. The goal of Housing Central Command is to maximize the resources that

2:52

we have, connect folks to housing as quickly as possible to reduce their total amount of time

2:58

they're spending homeless, whether it's in shelter or on the streets. The client flow for this,

3:07

Sorry, excuse me, is we accept our referrals through our coordinated entry system.

3:14

Once those referrals come through to our team, the navigation team starts working with them

3:19

alongside our unit acquisition team to select a unit for that client to live in.

3:26

Once they're leased up, they're ready to go and be in housing on their own.

3:30

They are supported with our stabilization case management team.

3:34

They're providing ongoing stabilization support, typically for around 12 months, and they're

3:41

using critical time intervention theory, which is an evidence-based practice to plan for

3:46

the exit from the outset so no one is blindsided when the subsidy ends at the end of whatever

3:52

their program duration is.

3:53

In this case, we're typically talking about 12 months.

3:58

So to give an overview of navigation, that will be done by CDP.

4:02

We'll go through that a little bit more, the contract-specific pieces in a little while.

4:08

But our navigators operate on a 1 to 10 staff to client ratio.

4:14

And we're typically talking about those first 30 days of support,

4:17

however long it takes for someone to move from referral into housing.

4:21

So they are working specifically with folks who have already been matched to a housing resource

4:26

and are experiencing homelessness in Denver.

Discussion Breakdown — Share of Meeting
Affordable Housing█████████████████████████████████████████████46%
Homelessness████████████████████████████29%
Community Engagement██████████10%
Historic Preservation█████████9%
Engineering And Infrastructure██████6%
Summary of Proceedings

Denver Community Planning & Housing Committee Meeting – January 13, 2026

The Community Planning and Housing Committee of the Denver City Council met on January 13, 2026, at 2:00 PM local time, chaired by Councilmember Diana Romero-Campbell (District 4). The committee reviewed and voted on three major agenda items: approval of Housing Central Command contracts for 2026, a rezoning request at 12150 East Andrews Drive to expand an assisted living facility, and a complex rezoning and Planned Unit Development (PUD) for the Tramway Nonprofit Center to preserve the historic building and allow a 63-unit affordable housing development.

Housing Central Command (HCC) Contracts

  • The committee received a presentation from Evie Benja (Assistant Director of Homelessness Resolution) and Midori Higa (Director of Homelessness Resolution Programs) on the 2026 operations of Housing Central Command (HCC), a crisis response model to rapidly house individuals experiencing homelessness.
  • Three contracts were presented for approval:
    • 25-2152 with Community Economic Defence Project for HCC navigation: $1,243,974 in 2026 (total three-year $3,762,388).
    • 25-2154 with Colorado Coalition for the Homeless for HCC stabilization: $2,231,731 in 2026 (total three-year $6,448,595).
    • 25-2153 with Housing Connector for rent payment and unit acquisition: $2,049,386 in 2026 (total three-year $9,581,406).
  • In 2025, HCC served 426 households (exceeding the goal of 399), housed clients in an average of 46 days, and saw 138 households exit to permanent/stable housing. The goal for 2026 is to reduce time to housing to 30 days and increase permanent exits to 75%.
  • Councilmembers questioned coordination with coordinated entry, landlord relationships, and data systems. Councilmember Watson requested a heat map of placements.
  • Key Outcome: The committee unanimously approved the three contracts in a block motion (moved by Councilmember Sawyer, seconded by Councilmember Torres).

Rezoning: 12150 East Andrews Drive

  • Edson Ibanez of Community Planning & Development presented a request to rezone 12150 East Andrews Drive from a Multi-Unit (MS-3) to a Mixed-Use (SMX-3) zone district, both up to three stories.
  • The property is a 3.5-acre assisted living facility (30 beds) that seeks to add 63 beds. The current zoning does not allow residential care facilities larger than 40 beds (Type 3), necessitating the rezoning.
  • The site is in Council District 8 (Councilmember Lewis) in the Montbello neighborhood, adjacent to industrial and single-family zones. The proposal aligns with Plan Denver 2040 and Blueprint Denver for infill and affordable housing—the expansion will serve residents at 60% or less of Area Median Income (AMI).
  • The planning board approved the rezoning unanimously. One letter of support from the Montbello 2020 RNO and three additional letters were received; no opposition letters were noted.
  • Key Outcome: The committee approved the rezoning by unanimous vote (moved by Councilmember Lewis, seconded by Councilmember Sawyer).

Rezoning and PUD: Tramway Nonprofit Center

  • Edson Ibanez presented a rezoning and PUD application for properties at 1620, 1625, 675 East 35th Avenue, and 3532, 3580 North Franklin Street, and 3558 North Gilpin Street, known as the Tramway Nonprofit Center.
  • The site is currently zoned under former Chapter 59 (RMU-20 with waivers and PUD 534). The requested PUD (PUD G38) creates three sub-areas: Sub-area A (the historic Tramway building) rezoned to UMX-2x with conservation requirements; Sub-area B (vacant portion) rezoned to URX-3 with a height of four stories (45 feet) for a 63-unit affordable housing development at 80% AMI with a 99-year covenant; Sub-area C (surface parking) rezoned to USU-A.
  • The applicant, Urban Land Conservancy (represented by Andrea Burns), stated the rezoning is needed to bring the existing nonprofit center into compliance (currently exceeding office space limits and containing non-permitted uses such as workforce development), preserve the historic building, and allow affordable housing using Low-Income Housing Tax Credits (LIHTC) awarded in November 2025.
  • Public comments: 44 letters in support (including from Historic Denver, Catholic Charities Housing, and others), and 45 letters in opposition (citing height, parking, density, traffic). The Cole Neighborhood Association took a neutral position after mediation failed to resolve differences over the four-story height.
  • The planning board recommended approval unanimously. Councilmembers questioned the rationale for four stories given existing entitlements and the mediation process. A neighbor, Katie Hanna, spoke to the impasse: neighbors sought three stories to better fit the residential character.
  • Key Outcome: The committee approved the rezoning and PUD by unanimous vote (moved by Councilmember Lewis, seconded by Councilmember Sawyer), sending it to the full City Council. The vote included a note that the existing zoning already allows four stories, and the PUD is necessary to preserve the Tramway building and enable affordable housing.

Meeting Transcript

Welcome back to this weekly meeting of the Community Planning and Housing Committee with Denver City Council. Your Community Planning and Housing Committee starts now. Well, good afternoon everyone. Thank you for joining us to the Community Planning and Housing Committee. I'm Diana Romero-Campbell, and I'm happy to chair for this meeting today. Do we have any council members online? Okay, we will have some join with us later. I'm going to go ahead and start with introductions, and to my right. Amanda Sawyer, District 5. Floral Idris, Lucky District 7. Daryl Watson, Fine District 9. And again, I'm Diana Romero-Campbell, representing Southeast Denver, District 4. Perfect timing. Jamie Torres, West Ender Mission Creek. Lovely. Let's go ahead and get started with our first presentation from Host. And Evie, I believe you're going to kick it off. I am. Thanks for the intro. I am Evie Benja. I am the Assistant Director of Homelessness Resolution over at Host. And I oversee our Housing Central Command. And I've got Midori here with me. Great, Higa. She, her pronouns, Director of Homelessness Resolution Programs. Thanks for the early start today. Awesome. So today we're going to be going through our 2026 overview of our Housing Central Command operations. For reference, when we're talking about the body of work that this falls into for host, it falls into our rehousing category. So inclusive of rapid rehousing programs, supportive housing programs, including vouchers and stability case management. Our action requested today is approval of the following contracts related to Housing Central Command. So 25-2152 for the community firms who does business's Community Economic Defence Project for their HCC navigation. The 2026 cost for that is $1,243,974. 25-2154, Colorado Coalition for the Homelessness. but for the homeless, HCC stabilization contract for the 2026 amount of $2,231,731, and 25-2153 for Housing Connector, the Housing Central Command rent payer and unit acquisition, for a 2026 amount of $2,049,386. dollars. To give an overview of what Housing Central Command is, it's a crisis response model based in emergency management. The goal of Housing Central Command is to maximize the resources that we have, connect folks to housing as quickly as possible to reduce their total amount of time they're spending homeless, whether it's in shelter or on the streets. The client flow for this, Sorry, excuse me, is we accept our referrals through our coordinated entry system. Once those referrals come through to our team, the navigation team starts working with them alongside our unit acquisition team to select a unit for that client to live in. Once they're leased up, they're ready to go and be in housing on their own. They are supported with our stabilization case management team. They're providing ongoing stabilization support, typically for around 12 months, and they're using critical time intervention theory, which is an evidence-based practice to plan for

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