The Denver City Council unanimously approved the city’s new five-year strategic plan to address homelessness on Monday, in addition to a new affordable housing project in the city.

The plan was put forward by the Department of Housing Stability with the intention of decreasing homelessness and increasing housing stability and affordability in Denver by the year 2026.

“We’re working toward a Denver where residents experience homelessness rarely and, if they do, it is brief and one time,” said Jennifer Biess with the department. “This plan will help create a Denver where residents have equitable access to housing options that meet their affordability needs.”

In 2021, there were about 5,530 homeless people living in shelters in the Denver metro area, according to an annual count. Another 1,185 people are unsheltered, according to estimates from the Department of Housing Stability.

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To address this issue, the five-year plan consists of 18 goals for the city to achieve by 2026:

Homeless resolution

• Reduce unsheltered homelessness by 50% from 2022 to 2026.
• Increase annual households served in housing programs from 1,800 to 3,000.
• Measurably end veteran homelessness.
• Increase sheltered households who exit to housing from 30% to 40%.
• Increase households who exit shelter and outreach programs to housing from 25% to 50%.
• Reduce the average time residents experience homelessness to 90 days.

Housing opportunity

• Increase income-restricted homes from 7% to 8% by creating and preserving 7,000 homes, including 900 supportive housing apartments.
• Reduce housing cost-burden among low- and moderate-income households from 59% to 51%.
• Preserve at least 950 apartments in income-restricted rental properties and for-sale homes.
• Increase homeownership rates among low- and moderate-income households from 36% to 41% and among households of color from 41% to 45%.

Housing stability

• Reduce annual evictions filed by 25% from 8,800 to 6,600.
• Support policy to prioritize displaced residents for newly developed affordable housing.
• Establish future goals in 2022 for measures like foreclosures among income-restricted units and household mobility.

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Operational support

• Align communication channels with community need and measure their effectiveness.
• Reduce average time from conditional approval to fully executed contract to under 60 days for program contracts under $500,000, under 75 days for program contracts above $500,000 and under 90 days for development contracts.
• Reduce average procurement decision time from 47 days to 30 days.
• Reduce average invoice processing time from 21 days to seven days.
• Increase percentage of respondents to community and stakeholder feedback.

In the city’s newest step toward achieving these goals, the council also approved a $2.45 million loan from the Department of Housing Stability to help fund the construction of 49 affordable condominiums in the Five Points neighborhood.

The Chestnut Place Condos will be located at 3501 and 3563 Chestnut Place and consist of 14 one-bedroom, 27 two-bedroom and eight three-bedroom condos with a commercial unit on the ground floor, city officials said. 

The for-sale condos will be reserved for residents who make 80% or less of the area median income, which is just under $56,000 for a one-person household, according to city data. The 80% AMI affordability is guaranteed for 99 years.