Whatever the best use might be for some surplus land the government is hoping to auction off at the Federal Center in Lakewood, you’ve got to give due credit to the Colorado Coalition for the Homeless for its dogged pursuit of the 59-acre parcel. And it looks like the nonprofit might prevail in its quest.

As we previously noted here, the coalition dragged the U.S. General Services Administration  – the government’s landlord – to court last month in an effort to stop the sale. The coalition maintains letting the sale proceed as planned effectively would sidestep a 1987 law that requires the agency to make the land available for serving the homeless. A coalition press release at the time suggested the proposed auction had been riven by confusion, unanswered questions and possibly conflicting decisions by the federal agencies involved.  Coalition President John Parvensky was  quoted:

“It continues to confound us that (the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development) could have determined that the Federal Center Station property, located adjacent to the RTD station and St. Anthony’s Hospital, was ‘unsuitable for use to assist the homeless’, while GSA determined that it was more than suitable for high end residential and commercial development. …”

On July 28, a federal judge granted the coalition’s motion for a temporary restraining order halting the sale, finding, as the coalition recounted, “substantial likelihood of success on the merits” of proving that “HUD’s unsuitability determination was arbitrary and capricious and therefore in violation of the Administrative Procedures Act.”

This week, the judge issued a new order under which HUD will reopen and review its earlier determination of “unsuitability” of the property for use for homeless assistance. From the coalition’s latest press statement issued Wednesday:

… HUD has agreed to provide a new determination of suitability within 30 days of receiving information from GSA and (the coalition).  HUD will have until September 14, 2017, to reconsider its initial determination of unsuitability and issue a written notice of its decision to the (coalition) and GSA.

Within hours of the issuance of the new Order, GSA provided a letter to HUD and the Coalition identifying “information that could be pertinent to HUD’s reconsideration of its determination of unsuitability of the Federal Center site.”  CCH is reviewing this information and will provide its recommendation to HUD by August 15, 2017.

The coalition’s plans for the parcel?

If HUD determines that the property is suitable for use to assist the homeless, the coalition intends to request that the site be transferred to (the coalition) to provide a range of supportive housing, health, employment, and other supportive services for homeless families and individuals in Lakewood and throughout the Metro Denver area.

Is that preferable to high-end residential and commercial development? That call seems to have been made by Congress when it passed the 1987 law. In any event, the coalition’s effort to demand answers from the government, and to ensure the agencies in question are heeding the law, would seem to be a stride toward greater government accountability.