DaVita, Goshen and Continuum Eye Workforce Units in Denver

DaVita, a national provider of kidney dialysis care, has teamed up with Goshen Development and Continuum Partners to build hundreds of workforce apartments in Downtown Denver.

The Denver-based healthcare firm and local developers plan to build an apartment complex of undetermined size at 2000 Welton Street, in Five Points, the Denver Business Journal reported. It would replace a parking lot.

DaVita bought the half-acre lot in April for $3.25 million, or $6.5 million an acre.

The seller was an affiliate of The X Company, based in Chicago, which in 2020 had filed plans to build an 18-story, 409-unit apartment highrise, then two years later revised its plan to a 23-story, 344-unit tower. It’s unclear whether either plan was approved.

The joint venture led by DaVita aims to build an affordable complex to provide “much-needed workforce housing” to middle-income healthcare workers, teachers, frontline caregivers and first responders, it said in a statement.

“We were attracted to this project because it provides a unique way to strategically invest in the future of Denver,” Peter Berkowitz, DaVita’s group vice president of real estate, development and facilities, told the Business Journal.

“While we always want to attract strong talent, this project is less about recruiting for DaVita and more about ensuring our hometown is a sustainable, affordable place to live.”

The project aims to be the first complex in Denver to be developed under the Colorado Middle Income Housing Authority, a special-purpose agency to promote affordable housing for middle-income workers.

Continuum and Goshen worked with state lawmakers to establish the authority under SB22-232, which Gov. Jared Polis signed into law in June 2022. It allows developers and housing providers to work with the state to finance and build rent-controlled workforce housing.

Properties built through the authority can also be exempt from property taxes, if local governments agree, according to the Business Journal.

Continuum, Goshen and DaVita are working through a financial model and other “key considerations” for the Welton Street project. Pending approvals, they hope to break ground late next year, or 2026, Continuum CEO Mark Falcone said in an email to the newspaper.

The proposed apartments will support middle-income residents who earn between 80 percent and 120 percent of area median income.

“Denver, like so many other major metropolitan areas today, has an affordability crisis,” Falcone said in his email. “This city is in desperate need of creative solutions that enable Denverites to live where they work.

“DaVita, like all major employers in the Denver market, has seen recruitment and retention challenges due to rapidly rising housing costs,” he added. “2000 Welton Street will be a valuable source of housing for their employees and others who work in and around this neighborhood.”

— Dana Bartholomew