The Denver City Council on Monday approved a loan of $2.6 million to preserve 60 affordable homes in the Capitol City Mobile Home Park. It’s a mobile home community with residents who last year created a co-op to avoid being displaced if the land under it sold.

The city is loaning the large sum to SCI-Capitol City, LLC, an entity of Sharing Connexion, for them to acquire and temporarily own Capitol City Mobile Home Park in the Westwood community.

Sharing Connexion is a local nonprofit with a stated mission of providing affordable housing.

The mobile home park, located at 4501 W. Kentucky Ave., has 78 mobile home spaces.

Of that, the nonprofit will lease 60 mobile home spots to existing income-qualified residents earning at or below 80% of the area median income, according to Denver’s Department of Housing Stability (HOST).

“There’s no potential displacement at this site,” said HOST spokesperson Derek Woodbury, adding that the 60 units covers the number of people qualified for affordable housing in Capitol City.

Residents of the mobile home community, some of whom have lived there for more than 60 years, launched a co-op last spring to raise $11.1 million to purchase the property and give ownership to the residents.

Capitol City is among just five mobile home parks in the city. The city of Denver, like the residents living there, want it to become the city’s first resident-owned mobile home park, according to HOST.

Essentially, Sharing Connexion’s interim ownership keeps another owner from buying the land and displacing the residents there.

The nonprofit’s investment in Capitol City is meant to “preserve and protect affordable housing from displacement,” Ed Anderson, CEO of Sharing Connexion, said in a statement.

“We are dedicated to maintaining this naturally occurring affordable housing for the residents while they work toward a cooperative ownership of the property,” he said.

HOST plans for Sharing Connexion to own the property for up to three years. It allows the residential co-op to “create management structure, legal documents, and other requirements for ownership,” the housing department said.

Following Sharing Connexion’s contract, the nonprofit expects to sell Capitol City to the resident-led “Monte Vista Housing Cooperative,” HOST said.

“This HOST loan agreement marks a triumphant moment for Capitol City Mobile Home Park residents, empowering them to establish Denver’s first resident-owned mobile home park,” said District 3 City Councilmember Jamie Torres.

She added: “this milestone underscores our unwavering commitment to preserving mobile home parks and affordable housing options in Denver.”

Money from Denver’s Impact Investment Fund, which is used to avoid residential displacement, is being used in the $2.6 million loan.

Denver Mayor Mike Johnston — who set a goal to permit, secure, finance and preserve 3,000 affordable housing units in 2024 — sees the Capitol City investment as an “innovative loan,” he said in a statement.

The mayor said the loan “will support a nonprofit partner that will prevent displacement of long-time residents, and eventually, ensure residents can buy the land underneath their mobile homes.”