Denver is finalizing plans for two new housing developments that would replace and add to the public-subsidized and affordable-housing stock in the city’s Sun Valley neighborhood.

The city would help these developments take root in the neighborhood through financial assistance to the tune of $2.95 million in no-interest, forgivable city loans. That assistance will go to the Denver Housing Authority to augment a mix of state, federal and private funding secured to help realize the project.

The public housing community in Sun Valley is the oldest such in the city of Denver built in the 1950s, according to Ismael Guerrero, executive director of the Denver Housing Authority.

Once fully complete, the Gateway community redevelopment would include some 850 units. Guerrero said the project is a one-for-one replacement of all the 330 existing public housing subsidized units in the community. The other two-thirds of the total will include an evenly split mix of income-restricted and market-rate units.

On Wednesday, Denver’s Safety, Housing, Education and Homelessness Committee unanimously approved a first phase of the project. The measure will still need approval from the full City Council.

That first phase includes two developments. The $32.5 million Gateway South development will include 92 units comprised of 47 one-bedrooms and 45 two-bedrooms, 58 of which will carry affordability restrictions ranging from a maximum of 30 to 60% of the area median income (AMI), or $27,850 to $55,680 respectively for a family of four.

The second development – the $40 million Gateway North project – once complete will provide 95 units of family housing, with 43 units covered by Section 8 vouchers, ensuring units are available to the very low-income.

The community tenants “represent some of the most vulnerable families of Denver,” an executive summary of the project reads. “More than 90% of the current residents earn less than 30% of AMI.”

Guerrero said the average annual income of a Sun Valley Gateway community resident is $11,000-$12,000.

“We are serving extremely low-income households, households that might otherwise be homeless,” Guerrero said.

Gateway North will include a mix of 28 one-bedroom, 36 two-bedroom, 21 three-bedroom, seven four-bedrooms and three five-bedrooms units. All of the units will be restricted to those earning between a maximum of 30 to 60% of AMI.

Most community residents will be able to stay in their current homes until the new units are constructed and ready.