A bill for an ordinance approving the 3015 East Colfax Urban Redevelopment Plan, the creation of the 3015 East Colfax Urban Redevelopment Area and the 3015 East Colfax Street Property Tax Increment Area and Sales Tax Increment Area. Approves the 3015 East Colfax Urban Redevelopment Plan and authorizes the creation of an Urban Redevelopment Area and sales and property tax increment areas in Council District 9. The Committee approved filing this item at its meeting on 5-24-22.
I Madam Secretary, close the voting and announce the result. 12 Eyes 12 Eyes Council Bill 22 Task Force 70 has passed. Councilmember Black, would you please put council bill 20 2-5, eight, nine on the floor for final passage. I move that council bill 20 2-0589 be placed upon final consideration and do pass. Thank you. It has been moved and seconded the required public hearing for Council Bill 20 2-589 is open. May we please have the staff report? Good evening, Madam President, members of City Council. My name is Tracy Huggins and I am the executive director of the Denver Urban Renewal Authority here this evening requesting Council's approval of the 3015 East Colfax Urban Redevelopment Plan to facilitate development of the 3015 Colfax Urban Redevelopment Area. The proposed urban redevelopment area is 37,000, square is a 30 is a 37,000 square foot site comprised of three parcels situated along East Colfax Avenue between Milwaukee and St Paul streets in the City Park statistical neighborhood. The urban redevelopment area consists primarily of the All End Motel and its parking lot. The motel is no longer operating, having closed to new patrons in March of 2022. The Island Motel. Originally, the Fountain Inn was built in 1959 and was one of the earliest motels developed along Colfax Avenue. It offered patrons Premiere accommodations for its time, including rooms fitted with radios, televisions and music equipment and was an attraction for tourists and locals due to the extravagant Gold Room restaurant and cocktail lounge located on the motel's first floor. The Gold Room was a popular choice for concert goers due to its proximity to several of Denver's well-known theaters and musical venues, many of which are still active today. Unfortunately, tourism and commercial activity steeply declined along Colfax Avenue following the completion of Interstate 70 in the mid 1960s. Many local establishments along the once bustling Colfax Avenue closed due to the loss in tourism business, including the Fountain Inn and Gold Room in 1969. The Fountain Inn underwent several management and ownership changes after its closure. The motel's business continued to decline throughout the late 20th century due to travelers preference of I-70 and exodus of nearby residents moving to the suburbs and an increase in criminal activity along Colfax Avenue. The property was rebranded as the only motel in 2003 and a new bar opened in the first floor restaurant space until it also closed in 2012. The restaurant space remains vacant today. Despite the multiple changes of ownership, the property has remained remained a motel. The only motel has operated for several years at well below its capacity, while displaying significant signs of physical deterioration. The all in motels deteriorating condition erodes the integrity of the historical property and is a detriment to Colfax Avenue, contributing to an inhospitable pedestrian environment inconsistent with the vision and goals for Colfax Avenue as described in Plan 2040 . The objectives of the Urban Redevelopment Plan are to reduce or eliminate blighted conditions and to stimulate the continued growth and development of the urban redevelopment area. The proposed proposed project meets the following objectives of the Urban Redevelopment Plan to renew and improve the character and environment of the area and its surroundings by preventing or ameliorating economic, physical and environmental deterioration. Encourage the re-use of existing buildings, including historic preservation and adaptive reuse. To protect and enhance the character of structures designated for historic preservation. To promote a diverse, sustainable neighborhood economy, including mixed use and commercial development opportunities within the area. To assist the city in cultivating complete and inclusive neighborhoods. Encourage land use patterns where pedestrians are safe and welcome to improve the economy of the city by stabilizing and upgrading property values and to achieve the goals as outlined in adopted city plans. A condition study was commenced in August of 2019 and finalized in June of 2020. This study supported a finding applied based on the presence of the following four conditions. Slum. Deteriorated or deteriorating structures. Unsanitary or unsafe conditions. Deterioration of sight or other improvements. And the existence of substantial physical underutilization. Or vacancy of sites. Buildings or other improvements. Defining a blight is a legislative finding by city council based upon the Blade study, which has been filed with the city clerk and other evidence presented at this public hearing. The redevelopment project will rehabilitate and adaptively reuse the historic motel building and construct a new four story approximately 15,000 square foot building on the southeastern portion of the site. When completed, the project will feature an 81 room hotel. Ground level commercial uses, including a restaurant, coffee shop, pool and lounge that would be situated between these two buildings that will be available not only by the hotel guests but also by the public via guest passes and approximately 700 square feet of affordable space for community serving users or businesses that may be vulnerable to displacement. In addition, there will be 56 surface parking stalls located behind the buildings. The project will be undertaken by a local developer, Ryan Tauber, with Inspire Colfax LLC, who purchased the property out of bankruptcy in 2016. Once completed, the whole hotel will be managed by New Waterloo, a hospitality and restaurant group from Austin, Texas, with extensive experience managing this type of project. The Fountain in was designed by well-known local architect Aubrey B Brailsford in the popular international style of the 1950s and sixties. In July of 2020, the current owner owner was successful in their effort to have the property listed on the National Register of Historic Places for its association with events that have made a significant contribution to the broad patterns of Denver's history. As noted in this rendering of the project from 1958, the project will not only return the original building to its prior state, but will add new construction that is complementary to the historic structure. Any urban redevelopment plan and project must be determined to further the goals and objectives of Plan 2040 and its approved supplements. As this diagram intends to show, not every goal and objective of each plan can ever be achieved through urban renewal activities. However, we believe this plan and project does meet several key criteria of the city plan's. As this project is focused on historic preservation and quality infill development, we have summarized the relevant sections of Plan 2040 Blueprint, Denver and the East Central Area Plan, with an emphasis on these key incomes are key outcomes. Sorry. So starting with historic preservation and these are intended to be color coded to be able to indicate which document they are coming from. So from Plan 2040, the prioritization of the reuse of existing buildings from Blueprint Denver states to incentivize the preservation of structures and features that contribute to the established character of an area and from the East Central Area plan. Encourage high quality design and character preservation in centers and corridors. Looking to those goals related to quality in-fill development plan 2040 states encourage quality infill development that is consistent with the surrounding neighborhood and offers opportunities for increased amenities. Blueprint Denver seeks to ensure an active and pedestrian friendly environment that provides a true mixed use character in centers and corridors and the East Central Area Area Plan notes to provide additional support to community serving retail businesses and improve the development environment along Colfax. Blueprint. Denver also incorporates equity in the planning process by measuring three key indicators across the city. Access to opportunity. Vulnerability to displacement and housing and jobs. Diversity. An existing analysis from Blueprint Denver indicates that the urban redevelopment area lies within a context that is high access to opportunity, moderate vulnerability to displacement, and low job and housing diversity . The plan will foster development that will improve the area's equitable outcomes, including creating businesses that will bring new employment opportunities to the neighborhood. A specific addition to the project, based on the potential vulnerability to displacement of businesses along Colfax Avenue, is approximately 700 square feet of affordable commercial space designated for use by local businesses, artists, non-profits or other community serving users. In addition, there is involvement in this project has presented an opportunity to provide relocation assistance to the existing motel occupants. Colorado Urban Renewal Law requires urban renewal authorities to provide a feasible method for the relocation of individuals and families who may be displaced by an urban renewal project to adhere to this statutory requirement . Dora adopted a relocation assistance policy which closely mirrors the federal relocation requirements and outlines a process for Dora to follow when an approved urban renewal project will displace individuals. When the motel closed in March of this year, there were 37 individuals utilizing the property. To be clear, there were no families in the property. From the beginning, our efforts were not intended to simply relocate individuals from the motel to like housing, but instead to actively pursue much more suitable and stable housing for each occupant. To achieve this effort, we engaged a housing team comprised of Local Coffee LLC to serve as the relocation coordinator, be Connected LLC to provide housing navigator services as well as the Mental Health Center of Denver to provide occupant support services specifically for their clients occupying the motel. This slide outlines the process and benefits of the housing stability efforts, including preparation of individualized assessments, application and list support, as well as follow up support after lease signing to assure the housing plan is meeting the occupants needs. The assistance benefits include 42 months of rental assistance consistent with the relocation policy, which ensures that low income occupants will not be spending more than 30% of their income on replacement housing. Moving expenses are also covered, and every one of the 37 occupants were offered this assistance, regardless of their tenure at the motel. The relocation and housing stability efforts began when the motel closed in March and are continuing today. This slides provides this slide provides the status of our efforts to date. 13 of the 37 original occupants or 34, 34% have secured stable housing with another three or an additional 8% with lease applications pending. Four occupants have completed their assessments and are actively working with the Relocation and Housing Navigator team to identify units to meet their needs, including proximity to their employment. Since our briefing at Council Committee on May 24th, an additional three occupants who were previously nonresponsive have commenced the assessment process. Today, there are three individuals who were completed that process but have additional considerations that are making the ability to identify units more challenging. Two persons have been removed from the motel. Five individuals who are aware of but who have declined the relocation services have moved to other motels along the corridor. Three occupants moved from the motel at the beginning of this process and provided no forwarding information. And finally, one person remains at the all in and has not yet engaged in the relocation process. And as I noted, Ms.. Coffey is present to answer any additional questions related to this process. The Urban Redevelopment Plan was submitted to the Denver Planning Board on May 4th of this year with a staff recommendation to find the plan to be in conformance with the comp plan. 2040 Planning Board voted 4 to 1 to find the plan to be in conformance with Plan 2040 and its adopted supplement. The bylaws of the 11 member Planning Board require all actions of the board must be taken by the concurring votes of the majority of the members present. Or five votes, whichever is greater. As the Board was unable to pass the motion to find the plan to be in conformance with the plan 2040. Due to not meeting the required concurring votes. The matter has been forwarded to the City Council as, quote. Planning Board provides no recommendation on this matter and quote, A letter to this effect has been submitted as part of the record of this hearing. Per the urban renewal statute, if no recommendation is received from Planning Board within 30 days from their review, City Council may proceed with the public hearing on the proposed plan. This plan and project seek to remedy the biting conditions of the area through the adaptive reuse of a historic building, thereby providing clearly needed economic revitalization along the East Colfax corridor, all while supporting the collective goals of seeking housing stability. The Urban Redevelopment Plan will authorize JIRA to finance projects within the urban redevelopment area by the use of tax increment financing. The need for public financial assistance is directly related to the extraordinary cost to eliminate the blighting conditions and support the adaptive reuse of the historically significant structure. Jurist staff has reviewed the development, budget and performance submitted by the developer and believes there is a financial gap in the $31.2 million development budget of approximately $3.5 million. This represents approximately 11% of the total project development budget. This financing gap will be addressed by reimbursing eligible costs through any property tax and sales tax increment generated only from within the tax increment area, which is coterminous with the urban redevelopment area for a period not to exceed 25 years. The utilization of property tax increment invokes the requirement that before City Council can approve a new urban redevelopment plan, they must find that an agreement has been entered into between Dura and the affected taxing entities in regard to the allocation of property tax increment to the project. There are two other property taxing entities Denver Public Schools and Urban Drainage and Flood Control District, now known as the Mile High Flood District. Both taxing entities were notified of the proposed urban redevelopment plan following that notification. Both evaluated the impact the project may have on their ability to deliver services. Based on the project information provided, both DPS and Mile High Flood District have determined that the project will have limited impact on their ability to deliver services and have agreed to allow all increment derived from their respective mill levies to be paid to direct to support the project. In addition, there is a cooperation agreement between the city and Durham, which governs the collection and remittance of both the property and sales tax increment to support the redevelopment project. It also limits the term of the tax increment area to the earlier of repayment of the DURA obligation or 25 years. In considering the approval of the 3015 East Colfax Urban Redevelopment Plan, City Council must make the following additional legislative findings that the boundaries of the area have been drawn as narrowly as feasible to accomplish the planning and development objectives of the plan. That written notice of this public hearing has been provided to all property owners, residents and owners of business concerns within the urban redevelopment area. Written notice was mailed on May 20th of this year, at least 30 days prior to this public hearing. No more than 120 days have passed since the first public hearing before City Council on the plan, and this is the first consideration of an urban redevelopment plan for this site. And thus the City Council has not previously failed to approve an urban redevelopment plan for this site, that the urban redevelopment plan will afford maximum opportunity consistent with the sound needs of Denver as a whole for the redevelopment or rehabilitation of the area by private enterprise. The Urban Redevelopment Plan does not consist of any area of open land which is to be developed for residential or nonresidential uses or any agricultural land that the city and county of Denver can adequately finance. And agreements are in place to finance any additional city and county of Denver infrastructure and services required to serve development within the 3015 East Caltex Urban Redevelopment Area for the period during which the incremental property taxes are paid to the authority. The plan allows for cooperative agreements between the city and DRA to address additional infrastructure requirements should they arise. And finally, no acquisition by eminent domain is authorized by this plan. The Denver Urban Renewal Authority has worked closely with the city and county of Denver, the developer, the Housing Stabilization Team and the neighborhood interests to bring forward this project. The redevelopment of this site, in addition to eliminating blighting conditions, will bring a new and exciting use to the historically significant building and generate new energy to this location along East Colfax Avenue. And we ask for your favorable consideration of this request. All right. Thank you, Tracy, for the staff report. We have 19 individuals signed up to speak. I'm going to call the first few speakers and then we'll alternate back and forth. Our first speaker in person in chambers is Brian Tauber. He. Hmm. Good evening, city council. Thank you, Tracy. It's a pleasure to be here with you this evening. My name is Brian Tauber, and I represent the owners of the Island Motel. We purchased the motel out of bankruptcy in 2016 with plans to redevelop the site. Throughout our evaluation and review of various redevelopment options, we decided to move forward with the full renovation of the existing building as a hotel redevelopment project. Our evaluation lasted several years as we fully engaged with the community to hear firsthand what their idea of a successful outcome at this site would be. We've had multiple discussions with various foreigners, stakeholders, neighbors, business improvement districts and have received several letters of support from each to move forward with a hotel renovation project. Throughout the process, it was apparent a hotel would fill a void in the community as local neighborhood hotel accommodations weren't available, and it would further benefit National Jewish Hospital with the thousands of out-of-state visitors they have visiting their hotel annually. At the ground level, the hotel will incorporate a full service, restaurant service in three meals a day, a pool, a pool for hotel guests and the neighborhood to enjoy a neighborhood, coffee and pastry shop. We'll have a hotel lobby bar for locals. To use throughout the day to work or visit with friends and family. And we'll establish a partnership with local artists traveling through Denver and performing at the many music venues along Colfax for local accommodations for them. We have a total of 81 hotel guestrooms and 56 parking spaces. The hotel will employ approximately 120 people, many of which will be full time jobs with full benefits. Vacation and retirement benefits. We successfully added the project to the National Historic Register of Historic Places in 2020 as we felt it was a contributing structure of Colfax Avenue and it added to its rich history. The preservation of historic structures are also called out for in the newly adopted East Area Central Plan and a community benefit. Furthermore, we redesigned the ground level to accommodate commercially affordable space to be reserved for local businesses in need of affordable space for their small business to thrive. I'm happy to address any questions and ask for your support tonight. Thank you. Thank you. Our next speaker is joining us virtually. Jeff Harbaugh. Thank you. My name is Jeff Harbor, and I'm asking you to vote no on the tax increment financing for 3015 Colfax Avenue. The luxury hotel is not necessary at this time because it is not a community asset and it provides no community benefits. The developer has admitted that his own development plans are financially risky so that many lenders have turned him down, both before the pandemic ensued. Tracy Huggins of Durham said the corridors trouble and has been for some time. I have lived a block away from the motel for many years and disagree with this assertion. While his business may be troubled, the corridor is not. This is not a suitable investment property for him and it only extends to one property because the developer has no experience in developing or running a hotel. Mr. Turner has said that he has received criticism from lenders that boutique hotels don't have national reservation systems and cannot operationalize any efficiencies. Secondly, Mr. Turner has told that short term rentals this year are impacting boutique hotel stays, to be exact. A quick check of the city's database of short term rentals shows that there are more than 300 stores already in the city park and Congress park neighborhoods within walking distance of the site, according to the city's SDR database. A luxury hotel is not needed in the area. I recently toured the property today and met residents who have not been contacted for housing. We are working to connect them. With resources, not Denver Urban or not. Mr. Turner purchased the property. He told the city and county of Denver the residents and improvements will be made at the property instead. He made few, if any, repairs and was cited a handful of times for safety and health violations from the city and in Denver. The photos of the property on a research watch of more than six years shows the individual willing to let the property fall to total disrespect. Mr. Turner has cited in 2019 for the kitchen being in disrepair and electrical being out of code and safety issue. Again, in 2019, the elevator was out of compliance. In 2020, cited for fire alarm issues, constant pest infestations of bedbugs and rats has also been an issue during several meetings with Congress neighbors R.A. and South City Park Arno. Mr. Tober admitted displacing current residents who depend on city issued housing vouchers, which all in motel access. Some are still living there without any new housing identified. The motel is on a bus line and is centrally located, so residents are able to access community based services and travel to and from work. To shutter the motel would further victimize residents who call this home. Please vote no on this two. Our next speaker is in person in chambers. Timothy Swanson. Good evening. Thank you for letting me talk here at 9:00 on a monday night, and thank you for engaging in this process. My name is Tim Swanson. I was born and raised in Denver. Proud to call this place my home. Five years ago, I moved into the neighborhood and live on the 1500 block of Saint Paul. Importantly, I live in the neighborhood. With my wife and two small children. We live about 200 yards from the island motel. Our block is an eclectic block. Besides my family, there are other small other families of small children, long term residents, even tenants with leases. Since we moved. To the neighborhood. Five years ago, we have been waiting for a transformational project to change the all and to uplift the all in motel from its obvious blight and disrepair to something that the whole neighborhood can be proud of and enjoy. For five years, the entire neighborhood has been waiting for this vote and for this project to move forward. As you know, the South City Park neighborhood has already voted in favor of this project twice, overwhelmingly. It's part of the materials that were submitted with you for approval. This vote took place after the developer submitted the project, submitted the concept to questioning and to scrutiny from the neighborhood, people who have a vested interest. He made himself available and took anyone up on a phone call who called. This project has numerous benefits to improve the safety of the neighborhood and will help remove a long standing negative stigma of Colfax and the All in motel that will retain the building's historic and unique character. And also provide lodging for out-of-town guests. Importantly important, this can't. Be lost that this developer's. Local. He's not seeking to plant a best Western flag or American flag or some other cookie cutter hotel that is not unique to this neighborhood. He's here. He's local. All the neighbors in my neighborhood who have a vested interest in who live there are strongly supportive of this project. We are the ones who have to deal with the project or with the status of it now day to day, and we'll have to deal with it in the future. If there was ever a project for Tiff, I ask you all drive by, walk by. Tell me that this project isn't blighted and isn't deserving of Tiff. Because if not, I don't know why we have a tiff or urban renewal statute. It makes no sense. My family and my neighborhood, we strongly support this project. We urge you to vote unanimously in favor of this project. Will move our neighborhood forward. Thank you. Thank you. Our next speaker is Mariana Thompson on Zoom. Can I be her? Can I be heard? What? Hello? Can I be heard? How are you? Good evening, counsel. And all watching Mariana Thompson as a volunteer advocate of our unhoused neighbors. I am very familiar with all in and I am speaking like Jeff before me said, against the approval of 20 2-0590. In the last three years, numerous people have been temporarily housed at all in and have received housing. Jesse Paris and myself have advocated for poor people and to people out of those four that we advocated for had gotten housing. Now, I, I am very familiar what the inside looked up like compared to the pictures. And I can say if this is that this is the owner and he would allow me, the tenant on our unhoused neighbors to live in these deplorable conditions. No, no. We do not need a luxury a luxury hotel. Urban renewal is the old fashioned name of. Gentrification. We do not. I do not believe in in in paying my taxpayer money towards this. And what about the unhoused people that got displaced council? Do you understand that, that some of them are being displaced as far as Lakewood went down the street. They had the bus lines. Down the street was a 7-Eleven. This was a perfect place, just like the Fusion studios a couple of years ago. That you guys. Approved up to be permanent housing. We need permanent housing from old motels. I, I am very upset with this. I live down the street on Park Avenue and called backs. And this these bids Colfax village is just trying to make everything luxury, luxury, luxury. When? Right now we are all suffering. We, you know, even people right now in low income housing are, you know, one step to this to the tent city. If you don't want tents in our city council, I would appreciate if you all vote no on this. Not just one person. Do the right thing. Remember, we can do better. Let's do better tonight. Thank you. Ted. Easter Lucky. All right. Hello. Good afternoon. Good evening. Thank you. City council. First for for allowing me to voice my opinion. I appreciate the time. And. My name is Teddy. Three Lucky. I am my fiancee. Ellie purchased our home. We are four houses away from all in. We are extremely close. This is something we are passionate about. And we unanimously support the proposed renovations for all in hotel. Brian Tauber purchased the Island Hotel with the intent to keep the classic landmark, improve the quality of the hotel and to benefit local neighborhoods. Ryan needs city council approval to move forward with these hotel renovations. This project will add a hotel option for the region of Denver. Looking on Google Maps, you can see between the neighborhoods of Cole, Clayton, Park Hill, Whittier, Skyline City Park, South City Park, Congress Park, Montclair. There are little to no hotels available. Given the amount of hospitals in the area, we would benefit from providing families and friends of patients staying at the hospitals with a place to stay when they visit their loved ones. This project will also improve the beauty of the neighborhood. This project includes keeping the existing structure and adding an additional structure to increase capacity and improve the exterior of the buildings and remove this blight that we walk by every single day. This project will also add additional businesses along Colfax. As Bryan mentioned, he intends to add small businesses a coffee shop bakery. This brings in this business 1 to 1. It'll bring in additional businesses. This will help increase the safety. And when we bring a child to our neighborhood, this will help us feel more safe in the area. In conclusion, we're all in for supporting Bryan Tauber in the hotel renovation. I urge city council to approve this project. Thank you again for your time and your support for this renovation. Thank you. Our next speaker joining us virtually is Tyrese Howard. Counsel. I'm curious, Howard. Excuse Action Network Member. I'm here to ask you all to vote against this bill, this proposed check and finance. I have known many people over the years that have stayed at the all in and time of desperation without housing. And it has been one of the critical hotels that is accessible for folks who are needing that kind of an emergency housing situation. They have been more accessible in terms of, you know, folks that don't have IDs and the city as well as other service providers have utilized them a great deal for putting people in temporary hotel voucher situations to get rid of this hotel and turn it into a luxury apartment. Is baffling to me that. We are actually considering using our tax dollars, public tax dollars to destroy low income emergency housing and turn it into luxury hotel. That is literally what we talking about right now at a time in Denver when we have the largest housing crisis ever, when housing is the big issue we're talking about, when you have hundreds and thousands of folks on the streets and shelters and so on and so forth every day. This is the biggest thing we're talking about. And meanwhile, it's before council to vote to turn one of the the viable options we have into a luxury a luxury hotel. This is very disturbing. I think it's really important to note also that even if all of the current residents of this hotel are moved into a great housing situation, which is much needed and very much. Hope, that that is something the city and partners can achieve in this time frame. Even if that were to be the case, that doesn't change the situation that this is a a low income, a cheap, attainable, temporary housing option, that that is badly needed in our city that would then be gone, would be off the table, would no longer be an option. We can't just be looking at the immediate situation. We have to be looking at the long haul. And the long haul we should be looking at is what what what is needed in this property. This property is needed to be retained as a quality property for low income folks. The city could have bought this property in 2016. It should buy it now and retain it for low income people. And I ask that the city vote no on this and. Instead move to buying the island and turning it. Into low income housing. Thank you very much. Thank you. Our next speaker is Jason Costa in chambers. Good evening, City Council. Thank you for the opportunity to talk to you guys tonight. I would like to start off by saying I come from a very large Italian family. We've made a lot of sausage in our days and this is quite an impressive process. So thank you for what you guys do for the city and thank you for your time. I'm hoping to win an award. I live three houses behind me, all in my with my wife Emily and our two small children. I have a five year old son and a two and a half year old little girl. We spend a lot of our time in the alley, riding bikes and teaching my son how to ride his bike and water in the plants and the bushes in the alley. And this neighborhood is really important to us. I've lived in Denver since 1995 and we've lived in this current house for about six years. And this would mean. A lot to us. I know from a macro level there's been a lot of good data and information presented of how this alliance with the City Youth Development Plan. How this generates jobs. How this reduces blight. But I just kind of wanted to address the micro aspect of this and the fact that it has overwhelming support from our Self City Park Neighborhood Organization. We attend meetings regularly. This also has strong support from the Congress Park Neighborhood Association as well. And like I said before, you know, for the people that live on that street and in the surrounding blocks, this is a big deal for us. We live with this every single day. And it will make this area a lot. Safer. And a much. Welcome area to raise our children and enjoy the city and. Why we live in the city. So thank you very much for your time. Great. Thank you. Would you introduce yourself for the public record? I apologize. My name is Jason Curtis. All right. I want to quick with the Italian joke. I think. Now. All good. All good. We appreciate it. Thank you. Our next speaker is joining us via Zoom Brandy any minute. Sorry, everybody. I'm very aggressive right now on what I try to be brief. Apologies about the of women, the black Muslims. They were too close to each other. That's what I want to say. This is. This is, like, ridiculous, you know? I was on house. Sharif that got me in the lane due to my heart condition in the beginning before COVID hit and a winter storm. It has. It served its purpose for what I needed it for. Mariana Thompson and person who helped me receive housing after that due to some some other nonsense that happened at all in . Like after I kept my my room for almost like six, eight months of like that. I can't remember. Um, that I received shortly after. Now, what I want to say about this is it. To. What do you say restoration restoration means to me? That you're going to fix the actual building, not tear it down and build a new building? Is luxury okay for. Whatever new vacation you're going to bring into the community? Okay. I don't care about this that there's the National Jewish Hospital, all that stuff. Everything's been rebuilt to suit one group of people. Gentrification is only for one class of people. I must say it again, like I said it last week. This only suits white people. White people. LGB. GQ People with a high paying jobs. That's what's here. That's what it supports. It does not support the black community that used to live in that area. It used to go to East High School, used to be all around that area. It doesn't. What have you added? Like, you know, pushing our people out. You know, you push our black community out, you push our Hispanic community out, and you only bring in more. High paying, upper class white people. That's what this is for. Now, if the building is messed up, you only have to blame the owner if you're not bringing enough money to that area. Blame yourself. The city of Denver. When you decide it's build I-70 and you took the tourism money from that area, then it became how it is. This is your fault. Not the city, not the people that live in the city, but the actual city. Well. And they decided to transform the city to suit financial needs. Make this building for what it is. We started building. He the humans there. You do not have a place with them. You know that. Thank you. Our next speaker. Was Charles. Nussbaum, but we're not seeing him online. So we'll go to Jesse Paris. Hello. Hello. You're in person. Thank you so much. Even in council. I'm Charles Nussbaum. I live in the 1400 block of Detroit Street for the last. Nine years. And for that I was in the 14 in block of Clayton Street. So I've traveled Colfax between New York, Josephine and Colorado Boulevard segment for 22 years now. And I, I really support all the people that are speaking against it. However, I beg you to support this proposal. It's a critical need for and this catalyst of the redevelopment in this stretch. For years, we didn't have a rec center. Now we do. For years, we didn't have a walkable grocery store. Now we do. The national and local opioid crisis has caused a need for methadone clinics. We have to. We need a hotel to serve the general surrounding neighborhoods in a way that is not being met. I do sympathize with the housing shortage and I do support the efforts that have been made to re locate the people and the employees at this location. I've got a new East graduate. But during his years in high school, my son has seen drugs being thrown from the window when the police have been at the bottom of the hotel reading activity there, that shouldn't be happening on Kovacs or anywhere. I don't think that we want to continue that activity. And I think the surrounding neighbors. Deserve that. I think that. Overall positive redevelopment of this historic building is needed and appreciated. And the restaurant and the bakery and the spaces being offered for small business and artists, I think is important. I think there is no walkable hotel. It is time for people that are attending events or productions there. I think. National Jewish deserves to have a hotel within walking distance for visitors. I think the neighbors need a hotel for guests to stay and be able to walk. I think people going to City Park Jazz need a place to stay. If they want to stay and enjoy the community. So I thank you for your time and I hope that you'll support this proposal. Thank you so much. I will go back online for Jesse Paris. Yes. Good evening. Members of council and those watching at home. My name is just personal representative for Black Star Action Movement for Self-defense. Positive action can work for social change as well as the Unity Party of Colorado, the East Denver Residents Council, front line black news. And I will be the next mayor of Denver in 2023. And I reside in District eight in Christopher Herndon's district. I am definitely against this rezoning tonight. As previous speakers have already spoken. I am. I am still currently housing advocates. I have helped several people throughout the years. Some of them have actually spoken tonight. And. The organization of the part of the homicidal world has went out of our way to house people that were. And homelessness at this location. One person in particular I used to advocate for Preach. He has been house for two years. Prior to this he stayed at the all in. And I can attest to the deterioration. Of the building. Because I witnessed it firsthand. People have almost got electrocuted to death in that building. The elevator was very. So the building is definitely, definitely in disrepair. What I would like to be made into another fusion studio or something of the sort, because we have a housing crisis. And. Instead of turning into luxury apartments like Howard spoke earlier. We have a housing crisis in luxury apartments in the area of Denver. It's not a solution or a means toward a solution to our housing crisis that we are under. This is just more gentrification as usual. Urban renewal is just sort of for all the undesirables out. It's a lot of keep talking about crime. And and. It's unsafe over here because they allow this area to go into blighted conditions just so they can have a reason to tear it down and build luxury hotel 1881 room hotel. That's not going to be for people that are currently experiencing homelessness. So I'm definitely against this. Please vote no on this tonight so that you have a heart and a conscience. Thank you. Thank you, Jesse. Our next speaker is Megan Wieland. Online. My name is Megan Whalen. Can you hear me? Yes. Okay. Thank you. I am a resident of the Capitol Hill area, and I'm here on behalf of Capitol Hill United Neighborhoods, otherwise known as chair. And I'm the chair of the Urban Planning Committee. And I'm just here to to report on our RINO's position on this and that. On Thursday, October 28th, 2021, our Board of Directors held a regularly scheduled board meeting, and at that meeting we discussed this project and had a presentation. 20 board members voted in favor of lending our support to this project as described, none opposed. And we had two members, board members that abstained. And without belaboring all of the points that you've heard, I know it's been a long evening. I'll just give a quick summary. The reasons are, number one, we do feel public private partnerships are essential to Denver's future and in particular with regard to this project. Number two, this investment group has appropriately engaged with us. They've demonstrated a commitment to working with the R and O's and community investments with neighborhood organization. Input is paramount and we feel like we've been heard in terms of our concerns. Number three, our board believes in preserving historic properties throughout Tron's ten neighborhoods, and the redevelopment of this property is consistent with our organizational goals to save older architecture. Number four Activating community spaces and bringing Denver sites together is critical. That's part of our mission. This project will provide unique public spaces along the Colfax Avenue corridor, and the neighborhoods serving amenities are to be recognized. And finally, innovative design and creating multiple uses in the South City Park neighborhood make sense. Uses such as hotel accommodations, which we have heard a number of times are in need. A café and a pool with some access to our neighborhood will be permitted in an area of the city requiring activation. And in closing, I'd just say, you know, we've been promised a number of things over decades with regard to this property . And this feels like a partnership with Dora that we're we're very supportive of and at the same time acknowledging all of the the concerns as represented here. So thanks for your time this evening. Thank you. Our next speaker online is Jerry Burton. Can you hear me? Yes, go ahead, Mr. Burke. Can you hear me? Can you hear me? Okay. Thank you. My name is Derek Burnham. We have house after network number. I was like, I'm a veteran. This is where I do not understand what you are. We have a housing crisis here. We came out that unhoused neighborhood that we already have and those that live in transitional housing and those that are living in shelter. But yet you want to take taxpayer dollars. To make a luxury apartment. Luxury apartment. This. If you live in a tent. If you live in a shelter. And you get apartment. That's luxury. I don't know what y'all are thinking about, but it seemed to me that y'all are perpetuating the homeless crisis for every. Valerie. I know. However, the city council is going to be running for other offices or they no longer can run for these offices. But the point is, the city could have bought that building and they could do it now if another monument or anything like that and put low, affordable housing on that property. Now we got more. Luxury apartment. Yeah, we know what to do with. But we still have homelessness in our city. I don't know what you are doing. But it does not take a rocket scientist to make a rocket. But y'all have to understand that in order for people to have some stability, they must have a place first. And y'all figured that equation. And y'all need to really think about this. And I want you to vote no on this, because at the same time, we are going to have more on how neighbor living on the streets and the city and county of Denver. Think about it. Think about it. We just we get celebrate Juneteenth. And let me tell you something. It's the same B.S. that will going on in 1865. That is going on in 2022. Y'all don't care about people. I have put more value in my and brand businesses to this. Establish to the city that y'all don't have a conscious. And with that being said, I would say to vote no, simply vote no. And bodybuilding and make a low income. Thank you. Thank you. Our next speaker is Jim J. It looks like we don't have Jim Jay with us. And so we're going to go ahead and move on. Very. In. Hello there. My name is V Reeves. I'm calling to vote to urge that the vote is a no on creating this property into a luxury hotel using taxpayer money. I'd like to focus on two terms that have been used. And really think about what that means. One of them is light. Unfortunately, people have talked about how this is a blight in the neighborhood, suggesting that it spoils or damages the neighborhood with its existence. It has been an asset to the community to, again, as people have mentioned before. Support housing and support the you know, the the trajectory that people have to take in order to get that stability, to get permanent housing. I am also a former case manager and have myself used this hotel as a means for some of my clients to seek refuge. When you take this away, you take away another tool that case managers have to be able to offer a temporary support and relief while we're searching for other options. And I can promise you that case managers are searching like crazy for beds and for, you know, temporary protection from the elements while we try to find permanent housing . Unfortunately, we've seen from the Department of Housing Stability own numbers that we're just not having any additional housing being built. What was happening since since the year of. 2015, there was no new market housing without government assistance that was being built below 60%. Am I in Denver since 2015? That's seven years. Through service providers. They have plans this year to build 523 housing units for under 30%. But there is a need of 32,000. When you have a viable option, a location that works by the bus lines, by the service organizations, by the resources that people need. When you talk about another word, integrity. The very first speaker talked about preserving the integrity of the neighborhood. This is called facts, and we are displacing people at alarming rates. We are forgetting the integrity definition originally, which is moral, upstanding ness. And here you are choosing to this place further and continuing to ask yourselves why we have a housing crisis to begin with. So I urge the city instead reconsider purchasing this building and allowing it to remain a viable option for people as it has for so long and do not continue to contribute to the displacement of our community. Thank you. Thank you. Our next speaker is Emily Clarke. Hello. Good evening. My name is Emily Clark. I'm a Denver resident, and I live on Monroe Street. I'm here today to express my strong support of the redevelopment plan for the Allen Hotel. I live in the South City Park neighborhood in which this property is located. I truly believe this plan will contribute many benefits to our community and is consistent with the East Central Area Plan. It will reduce blight, become a catalyst for other improvements, and provide services that are currently missing. It will create many jobs and provide an important piece of. Infrastructure. To. Carfax and the Blue Bird District. All while preserving an historic structure. I was able to visit the Austin, Texas Hotel managed by New Waterloo, the same company that will oversee this hotel. It was a beautiful building. Well maintained and included a thriving restaurant and retail store. If this hotel is to be anything like it, we'd be incredibly lucky. I would like to encourage City Council to approve the redevelopment plan as well as the associated funding mechanisms. Thank you for your time tonight. Thank you. Our next speaker is Lenny Sorrels. Members of Denver City Council. My name's Lenny Cyrus. I live in the Congress Park neighborhood. I'm requesting that you vote no on the tax increment financing proposition for 3015, it's Colfax Avenue, which is operated as the Oakland Motel. For the record, it's correct that a previous speaker said by the name of Jason Mentally Covers Park neighborhood R.A. has now provided support for this project. The current owner, Brian Herbert, wishes to build a boutique hotel. He has informed me and others that he has repeatedly been turned down for financing because the project was deemed too risky prior to the onset of the pandemic due to the lack of branding, his own lack of experience in managing a hotel and the project's lack of a universal hotel reservation system as well as the proliferation of short term rentals. Once the developer realized that his dream of owning a boutique hotel and a changing dynamic of short term rentals was problematic. He decided to defer all maintenance and have his property deemed as white in order to secure tax increment financing. What is trouble is that the so called blight is confined to his property only because of the lack of attention. To make repairs. That Mr. Torba promised to take care of in 2016. Tax increment financing should not be used to assist a developer with a project that is otherwise not viable due to a lack of business acumen, community need or benefit or market demand within walking distance. There are many short term rentals. There are over 300. And there are also several ends in bed and breakfast. The site currently accepts temporary housing vouchers from the city county of Denver, Denver Police Department and Mental Health Center of Denver. How do I know this? Because I work with a group of volunteers and service providers who have referred displaced neighbors to the motel. What is the tax increment financing proposal was initiated. The management of the hotel notified residents of their impending evictions. Your vote to affirmative will result in dozens of vulnerable people being displaced. I toured the property recently this month and talked to several people who have been told that they must move no later than July 1st. They have no place to move to and no housing. Has been. Identified for them. They state that there was one initial contact about moving from the Alton Motel, and. That is all they have heard since that time. I gave these residents my personal email address so I can follow up with them to get them assistance. The state of the facility on the inside and outside has not been maintained that conditions are absolutely deplorable. However, Mr. Travers management company continues to collect residents from the continues to collect rent from residents living there. I made notes of several Denver code violations of the property that are present today. There are very few motels that accept housing vouchers and even fewer places that accept tenants without identification whose documents may have been lost in a move displacement or suite of assets such as hotel vouchers for city hall immediately. We're going to go ahead. And. Move on. That was the time we have allotted for each speaker. Our next speaker is Cathy Price. So. My name is Cathy Price. I live on Monroe Street as well. I am a resident of South City Park, but I'm here to represent and speak on behalf of the City Park Neighborhood Association, for which I am the current Treasurer. I just wanted to address the members of Council to say that I am here on behalf of the City Park Neighborhood Association in support of the redevelopment of the Allan Motel property. As proposed by Inspire. Investment Group. We have performed, we being the Neighborhood Association, have performed several surveys of our membership once in 2019 and again recently in March of 2022. And those survey results have shown overwhelming results and support from our neighbors, from our members of this redevelopment. In 2019, the membership voted at 9090 5%. I do not have the number that voted at that time, but 95% of members voted in support in March of 2022, after Bryan and Inspire Investment Group came to the South City Park Neighborhood Association meeting to address proposed changes. Provide a presentation along with Dora. In March 2022, we sent out their second survey. That survey was open from March 28 through April 10th, so significant period of time to obtain the opinions of our members. And the results of that showed 88% of the current membership are remain in favor of this project. So with that being said, again, just showing the support on behalf of the R.A. that the neighborhood or excuse me, that the hotel sits within. Thank you so much for your time. Thank you. Our next speaker is Katie Blakey. Oh, hello, council members. My name is Katie Blakey. I'm also a member of ten and 11 District ten. I send up to speak to ask that you please vote no on this bill. I don't think it's appropriate to use tax increment financing for this project, which provides limited community benefit. The owner purchased the property in foreclosure, understanding how much work the building needed and has allowed the property to fallen into further disrepair in the six years they've owned it. This type of funding mechanism should be reserved for special projects that will deliver a significant. Benefit to the community. According to a report from the American Hotel and Lodging Association. Denver Hotel occupancy rates year to date are averaging about 58%, which is well behind the 74% occupancy rates of 2019. Boutique hotels in particular are risky business. Venture restaurants, cafes and even pools are facing significant staffing shortages. In light of this, it's inappropriate for the city to take on this additional risk when we're facing increasing costs, inflation and record levels of homelessness and displacement. Also, and listening to the presentation, it sounds like this project will take money away from Denver Public Schools from the deep levy. If you could please clarify what exactly that all means. Like many. Others who've spoken, I'm concerned about the people. Who are being displaced from the hotel and wish we lived in the kind of city where that consideration carried a real weight. Thank you for your time and please vote no on 20 20589 and 20 2-0590. Thank you. Our next speaker is Christopher Johnston. Yes. Good evening, City Council. Thank you so much for this time. I am asking you to vote yes and I am. Testifying in support of the Borough Proposal for 3015 Colfax. I also live with my wife, young children on the 1400 block of Milwaukee Street. So just across the street. From this property. We need to be taking plywood down from Colfax windows, not putting more up. The request being put forth by Dora will help accelerate the Greektown business district out of the stagnation that COVID created and anchor it for many years to come. As has been mentioned, the hotels that this will be modeled after have been extremely successful, whether. It's in Austin. Washington, D.C.. In my discussion with what local businesses still are present, at least in the Greektown business district from Lake Steele down to York. The excitement and possibilities this project creates are obvious. I won't belabor the points with regards to hospital support, local residents support commercial space that has been. Mentioned and how. The growth will help support the tax base for our city. This has been in its state for decades. This is not Brian doing that. It it's in this current state. And I think his proposal has been the only one for a very, very long time that will actually bring back some activation to the Greektown business district in this area of Colfax. I know that is being used for small number of housing. Vouchers, but I. Think we shouldn't withhold future municipal support from a business just because they. Participate in the voucher program. That seems more like a punishment to me. I think voting no will actually disincentivize future voucher enrollment and resources. And as has been presented, there's been extensive work to that. No one will be displaced. It's also been said that the planning board, though, coming forth with no recommendation, was merely because there weren't enough people present to show what was overall a supportive vote in favor . So yeah, please vote yes to help this area of Colfax. Vote yes for your constituents who want to see Colfax thrive. And don't let this. Property remain in its blighted state for decades to come. Without your support, this is sure to happen. Thank you so much for your time and for your service. Appreciate you. Thank you. That concludes our speakers questions from members of Council on Council Bill 22, Dash 589. Council member. Sawyer thinks that a President Tracy, one of the speakers did bring up a great question that I think is important to clarify for everyone, and that is exactly kind of what tax increment finance financing does in relation to the three taxing entities in the city and county of Denver. So if I may, Councilwoman, I'd like to both answer that question and maybe give an additional little bit of additional context to maybe clarify some other agreements as well. So so tax increment financing is a mechanism by which only newly created revenues as a result of the redevelopment are made available to Doura. To help reimburse. Costs that the developer is incurring. So when the other taxing entities evaluate the project, they have to first decide is the project going to occur? And if so, what would those new revenues be? That again, but for this project wouldn't be there. And then more importantly, what does the project itself do as far as impact their delivery services? So taking Denver Public Schools, this is proposed to be a hotel project. So therefore there are not new residents that are coming in to the school district system that they would need to assist. And so very, very frequently, when it is a commercial only project, that is the viewpoint of DPS. Conversely, when it is a project that has a significant amount of residential or just any residential, they look at that evaluation differently. When it comes to urban drainage, this is part of an existing network of of utilities that they participate in. And so they also agree that given the size and scope and scale of this project, it was not going to have an impact. I want to circle back to again those revenues that and the and the structure that we are pursuing, which is that the developer has to finance all of the project. He only stands to benefit if the project is successful and therefore actually generates an increase in property taxes as well as sales taxes. So there is no risk to the city. This is only capturing those taxes that are generated within the boundaries of the urban renewal area. So it would be any sales tax generated by the project as well as property tax above what is currently being generated. I hope that helps. Yep. Really appreciate that explanation. Thank you so much for that and just don't go anywhere. One more quick question. Just wanted to also clarify, a number of the speakers had said I had felt very strongly that they did not want this to be an apartment building. It is going to be a hotel. Is that correct? That is correct. Is going to be a hotel, not an apartment building. Okay. And historically, up until the time when the current owners offered it to the city to use as temporary temporary housing for residents who were at risk to COVID. Is that correct? Or just temporary housing in general? I may have to defer to the owner on that question in that it is my understanding that there are no city vouchers currently being deployed at the motel. Oh, great. Okay. That clarifies that for me then. Is that correct? Do you want to do you want to come up and respond to that? Please introduce yourself for the public record. Yes. Thank you. Brian Tauber, the owner, representative, owner of the property. I believe I heard the question was, was the motel offered as temporary housing during the pandemic? The answer is yes. I did reach out to at the time it was marketed by Denver to say we need some housing help here. I reached out to I think it was Nestor hosted and offered the apartment because we had plenty of rooms available. We interchanged with a couple of emails and they declined respectfully that it just didn't check enough of their boxes. Okay. Got it. Thank you. Really appreciate that clarification. So what happens if we agree and vote to create this urban renewal area? We agree to allow the financing and the project fails. What? What happens? I hope it doesn't, for your sake. But what then? This may need to be a tag team answer and I will give the Urban Renewal Authority answer and then Brian put you on the spot as far as what your your answer may be. The risk is borne by the developer. So, again, in putting together this project, he has already put a significant amount of equity into the project and is securing loans that will be serviced in part through the performance of the project just from normal cash flow as well as then by the amount of incremental taxes that the project generates. If those if the amount of tip is not that that was expected to be generated, isn't there. There just needs to be additional resources brought forward by the developer to continue to to repay the obligation and or take a reduction in the amount of equity returns that they would otherwise be seeking to achieve. Okay, great. I hope that doesn't happen, for your sake. If this ends up being approved. But I really want to know what is the city's risk? What are what are we looking at in terms of, you know, if we agree to this, then what comes next? So really appreciate that explanation. I think that's it for me. Thanks, Madam President. All right. Thank you. Councilmember Sawyer, Councilor Pro-Tem Tem. Thank you, Madam President. A lot of people asked why the city didn't purchase this. Was it offered up? Was there any interest? Was that a play at hand at all? Hmm. So that's a good question. In December of 2015, this proved this property, as well as the other property that was in bankruptcy, went to auction, public auction. I wasn't a participant at that time. We weren't in a situation to pursue it. The stalking horse bidder, they call it, would have been awarded the project. There were no competing bids to purchase it. He was the only one at that time that had even advanced an offer because there wasn't a competing bid. The trust, the judge of the court said, Well, in exchange for allowing you the 10% discount because nobody bid against you, we have to take it back out to the public market. I was at that case hearing and when that happened, I decided, well, maybe now that it's going to be re offered at a future auction that maybe at that point I would be interested to to make an offer for it. April of 2016, four months later, that auction was conducted. There were four individuals or representatives at that particular auction. One was a stalking horse bidder. One was an individual behind me. I don't know what the intent was. There was a third that declined to bid, and I was the fourth. I believe all of them were individual developer representatives that had an interest in it. I haven't met anybody that was a representative city that had any intent to buy. Okay. Thank you. Okay, great. Thank you. Counsel for Tim Torres, Councilmember Hines. Thank you. Council President So this is also a question for I have a few questions for Mr. Tauber, and I'm sorry that I'm not there in person, but hopefully we can figure this out. My being virtual and you in person. I want to read a quote from Congress Park resident Vicky Eppler. Brian Tauber. And as partners have invested considerable time and money in an effort to create a project that would fit the context of Colfax and add community benefits. This is not a luxury motel. This is not a chain hotel, but a local business. So that's the end of the quote. We certainly heard in public comment from multiple people who say that this will be a luxury motel. Help me understand if the people in public comment are right or and this letter, by the way, is in granicus. So this is this isn't it's publicly available for anyone to read it. But help me understand either why this is a luxury motel or why Miss Epler believes it is not a luxury motel, but just a local business. Somewhere the narrative got put forth that this was a luxury hotel. I'm not quite sure where that came from. It didn't come from anybody that I represent. This this hotel is designed and has been designed to be kind of a community in which it runs. It's probably going to sit somewhere squarely in a three star. It's designed to be an affordable housing or affordable accommodation. It's not something you would see down in Cherry Creek. It's independently owned, independently branded hotel and. Luxury, I guess, means different things to different people. I guess because it's cleaned up, maybe somebody thought it was luxury, but we're looking to fit within the fabric of the community and of Colfax. And I think that the business and the brand that we've designed is just that. If you're familiar with other types of boutique hotels that are small in nature, they're really they're they're just hotels that kind of speak of the local culture. And that's kind of how we designed it and branded it. So it's not a luxury hotel. It's it's really kind of just a understated place where people can kind of come enjoy time, kind of work and relax and have fun. Thank you for that. And the same in the same letter, Ms.. Mentions that she's on the board of Congress park neighbors. But she but that she is writing specifically on her own behalf, not on the board of of CBN. I know that you've given multiple presentations to Congress neighbors. Could you tell me a little bit about your the presentation and the expectations that the Board of Congress party neighbors had for you? Did they do they share that they were intending to take a position or were they inviting you to present so that TBN attendees could be better informed or, you know, help me understand what KPMG's expectations of you were and your expectations as a result of your presentation. So my recollection is two conversations. The first conversation was just with the board members. I gave them a personal tour. Vicki was part of that personal tour. I remember there are five or six individuals. I remember they were all board members and I toured the property with them and explained what what we were doing and it was support. It was that we like it. The reason why it wasn't in front of the neighborhood is because we didn't have a meeting that I could fit on their agenda back then. And we were getting ready back in 2000. And I don't know if the year was 2019 or or 2020, but we were getting ready to move forward. That and then the pandemic hit and everything just kind of shut down. We then with Jeff, with with Darragh and myself formally were met with a Congress Park neighborhood association where the neighbors are. And they had. Support of our project. I mean, it wasn't 100% support. Nothing ever really is. But I we left that meeting and I think we felt very confident that we had support. So that was with regard to Congress part or the. Yeah. And I guess the determent question is, I don't recall Congress neighbors taking official positions on on a lot of rezonings or in this case I do a presentation. And so, um, but I, but I figured I would ask you specifically what your, what your conversations were in case, you know, CPN had mentioned that it did intend to take a position as a result of the. Conversation. With you. An official position on it. If they. So explain in our plans and we took a question in Parliament. So I have one other kind of thought process I'm going to go down. Tell me about the pool you intend to build there. Who gets to visit the pool? And what are your community goals for the pool? Yeah. Great question. We we are trying to model. A successful offering that new Waterloo has had in some of their other hotels, and Austin, where they have pools that are available for the community for day pass. So we felt that this was an opportunity to activate that ground level. We couldn't put the pool up top for cost concerns, but we wanted to activate it. So we thought that it would be a nice benefit for those that would like to take an afternoon and sit around the pool and relax, that this would be a offering, an amenity and for the community that they could indeed come and use the pool in addition to the hotel guests via daily passes. It's been done in new water, lose other hotels successfully, South Park as well as El Rey. I know for sure and I'm sure they've got others that they do it at. So we're we're pretty excited about that. I think that there's there are some community pools that I'm aware of, but I think this pool will just be more of an activated opportunity to to come and just relax and hang out and have fun . Yeah. Thank you for that. The last question that I have is very similar. I think you mentioned it in your in your testimony. You talked about the community space. But like for you to go into little more detail about the there's a community space that you intend to build there. And what are your goals for that community space? Are who do you intend to offer it to, etc.? So through our discussions with community planning and development and Denver Urban Renewal, we felt it very important to offer additional community benefits in addition to the preservation of historic structure. This was important for community planning and development, and we hadn't had space allocated within the ground level that we could offer. But during those conversations, I identified an area that was actually going to be the laundry facility for the hotel and said perhaps this particular space will reimagine, we'll get rid of it or remove it. We'll do it off site or we'll move it to the basement. So community planning development actually really appreciated the negotiation between that and it was understood if you do this, this needs to be a commercially affordable space. So I sat down actually a Bluebird bid and some other stakeholders and I said, What would be something that's missing ? People in the arts were brought up that this would be great for those people that are part of the arts group. There were a couple specific art. Art related businesses or non-profits that that that I actually reached out to and and tried to dialog what would work within a hotel that would be a benefit to both. That would be a use that would make sense but would really be something that a small business or somebody that was looking at displacement of their business could come in and take as a tenant and we would offer that to them as a for. An affordable commercial space. So we have about 695 square feet on that ground level. We re-engineered some access and access to that space. We sent our architect back to the drawing board to redesign it, and we went back into planning with the city to get that relooked at and permitted. So we felt really good about it. We know there's a lot of companies that are at risk of displacement. We're just hoping to do a small part. Q For your for your answers and thank you. Council President. No further questions. All right. Thank you, Councilmember Hines. Councilmember Black. Thank you, Madam President. I have a few questions probably for both of you. Tracy, I'll start with you. I know you answered a lot of questions about what tax increment financing is for. Councilman Sawyer, I just wanted to clarify for some of the people who spoke. Several people stated that we were somehow taking money away from from the city or taking money away from our ability to help people. We're taking money away from housing. So can you maybe clarify that so people understand again that this this is the incremental benefit and we're not actually taking our city tax dollars. Correct? Sure. I am happy to do that. When an urban renewal plan is approved, that includes tax increment financing. The state law requires that there be a calculation of the amount of taxes that the project is currently generating, both on sales tax as well as property tax referred to very simply as the base amount of taxes. That amount is always first collected and then paid to the city or DPS or urban drainage. So in doing a project, it isn't taking anything away from the city or the other taxing entities from what they already were receiving. It's only the amounts above that base that become the increment that are available to the Urban Renewal Authority to invest in the project. And that that will also expire. It doesn't go on indefinitely. Correct. And the term of that would be the earlier of repayment of the amount that we commit to reimburse the developer or 25 years, whichever comes first. Okay. And I know I think it was last year we had a number of them expire. Yes. Yes. Some big ones. Okay. I had a question about the planning board vote. And so only five members were present out of 11. Correct. Okay. And four were in support and one was not. But they needed five votes because that would have been quorum. Yes, they as I am reading their their bylaws and I'm going to look for others who may have to to weigh in here, that the the requirement for approval of any item come before them is either a majority of those present or five. And so since they there were only five present, the majority clearly was met, but they needed to get that baseline of five, which is the majority of the total count of the board. Okay. So do that. Right, Andrew. So it's not the planning board voted it down. It's just literally there weren't enough people there. Correct, that the outcome was such that they could not make a recommendation. Okay. And then I have a few other questions and I'm just trying to better understand, um, what a lot of our speakers talked about, that we were taking housing away from people. So I just wanted to better understand what that housing is. And I know in our your presentation of finance and government, we talked you talked about the rent that people were paying and the number of days who were there. So I don't know if you want to answer that or Mr. Tauber, but, um, how many rooms are there. At the. Motel? There are 54. Okay. And how many people are living there now. As of today or on an average today? I believe there are somewhere between five and seven. Michelle. Ma'am, the actual number, she's here tonight. Okay. And and before you stop accepting new people in March, what was the typical occupancy? So typically there was, according to my tenant that has been managing it for 19 years around mid twenties and that's what we were expecting about 24 people because we had asked for a rent rule several months before and that was also on the record. In March there were 37, so there was a surprise increase over what we were expecting. Which wasn't consistent with the history of it. But for I would assume I believe that there was another site that closed down voluntarily and they moved in here temporarily. So you weren't normally full. You didn't have those rooms, right? Correct. Okay. And I saw a chart somewhere about how much people were paying. And it was would tell me how much how like a monthly. Yeah. Because a lot of people were saying there long term. Correct. Are they paying? I believe. And another great question for the show. I believe that the individuals were paying the motel tenant an average of 350 or $380 a week. We don't collect any rent. A couple of things that I'll share. When we purchased it, we kept my rent to the operating company the same that was negotiated by the bankruptcy estate . And I haven't raised it in six years because I thought raising it would only put more burden on their business that would eventually potentially lead to their closing of their business. It was important for me to say, we won't raise your in six years and you're well below market rent to me. Now their business was their business and they worked with Mental Health Center in Denver and others to collect. Reps for the people that were being placed there. Now, from what I understand, even the rents they were collecting were below market. And I think that comes from Michele. I think maybe you can add some color around that. Sure. Good evening, City Council members Michelle Coffey, relocation coordinator for the Island Motel. To answer your first question, Councilmember Black. There are eight occupants remaining onsite as of, I would say, 5 p.m. today. So. And I believe one of those is an onsite employee. That works for the Island Motel. On average, the occupants are paying anywhere from $330 to $380 per week. And those are cold. Those rents are calculated and collected on a weekly basis. I can't recall the last question, if you don't mind repeating that. I have more questions. So, um. Do the rooms have kitchens? They do not. Okay. So the rent is maybe around 1400 dollars a month. Ranging anywhere from 13, 2013, 20 per month, 1400. Okay. And just for some context. So let's just say it's 1300 dollars a month that I just Google the average rent in Denver and it is about 1700 and that's average and those include kitchens. So I would not say that the Orland Motel is a bargain and there's probably, you know, some better places for people that people could live. So I'm just trying to put this in context. And you're telling me that typically there's only around 25 rooms that are occupied. But I did have another question for you. So that the the people who you've been helping. So thank you for doing that. They it's my understanding that they are being held or they're declining your assistance. Is that the case or are there some other situations? So, no, we have not received any declines of our assistance. It's been welcomed the assistance that we've provided. We've also been since March 21st when we issued our general information notices to the occupants. We've maintained on site hours and sweet to I'm sorry room to 15 months with 250 room tip to 15 Monday through Friday from 9 a.m. until 5:00 pm. And then that effective the first week of June as the occupancy started to decline, we were we've been there maybe 2. To 3 weeks. 2 to 3 days out of the week. So we've made our presence known with the occupants that are there on site, as well as working alongside of the management team that works for the motel. Okay. And the eight that you have left, are you competent? Yeah. I would say of the eight we have left, we have four that have applications that are pending and then probably four that we're still trying to complete some sort of assessment to determine their financial I'm sorry, their financial means as well as housing criterias that need to be resolved. So. And we'll continue on site there. And how. We've met with everyone in an attempt to relocate them all successfully. Great. Thank you. Mr. Tauber, I have a question for you. If this does not pass tonight, what what would you do with the property? Would you continue using it as it is being used today? No, the motel's closing. It's just the deferred maintenance. We've just kind of tried to keep it together for as long as we can. We invested in a new elevator so that it wouldn't have to close. We adhered to all the public health criteria for demand to cure and and to fix just so we could keep it open and keep it used as housing. But the motel operator just can't make any money anymore. So they asked to move on and they're managing a site down the street for us as well. So that's where they want to move to and focus on that. And this project just became too expensive for them to keep it going. So if this didn't pass, we would have a boarded up, closed building that we would literally have to go back to the drawing board and figure out what now what? All right. Thank you very. All right. Thank you, Councilmember Black Councilmember Cashman. Thank you, Mr. Turban. Just so I'd be sure I understand the. The plan is to renovate the existing building and build the second that's on the side. So what if 57 did you say in the new. In the. Old building? 54 in the old building. 27 in the new. Okay. Now, the current situation, you're renting it simply to individuals or are there agreements with the agencies that these individuals are being referred by? How does your. How would you like to phone a friend? Yeah. Can I call a friend? She has more information on the conversation. Thank you. Again. Michele copy relocation coordinators. So the rooms. Are there were they were being rented to individuals that. Were. Some were employed some receiving some government assistance like Social Security benefits. And the only agency that was receiving or placing occupants at the island motel was the mental health center of Denver. And they were paying with. Something that we refer to as a voucher, but it was a weekly payment slip that they had an arrangement with the management. In place. At the Island Hotel. And so what percentage of your people would you say came through? And they said we. Had a total of five occupants from MH. As of March. 21st. Thank you. And to thank you, Michelle, Mr. Tauber, again. So, Jim, sounds it sounds like the building is not in great shape, though, and so have you. You own it six years. Is that what I remember? Six years. Okay. Give me an idea of how much money you've put in. I mean, have you made any attempts to repair? Yeah. So I personally invested $75,000 on new elevator. The Kims. Their lease agreement is a triple net lease, so they're responsible for 100% of the maintenance and pure triple net. When in 2019, we had a visit from the fire department, the public health department. I immediately went to them and said, You have an obligation to correct these items. So they invested their own dollars. I was informed that they invested over $100,000 to do all that, but I didn't I didn't check any of their invoices. So they did all the maintenance required by the various agencies that wanted things corrected at their expense. So collectively, I am assuming my 75 plus whatever they've invested just to keep it open somewhere in the neighborhood of $175,000. Not a lot of dough. Really for that type of property. I mean, if you want to write me a check for 175, I'll take it. But in the scope of what it sounds like, it doesn't sound like a huge effort was made to bring things up to a higher standard. I think from our perspective, we knew that. We only have a finite amount of money and we wanted to. After talking with an, he would deliver on the promise that they had always wanted, which was a renovation of a hotel. Any dollars that would go towards fixing rooms or so many systems that would have to be redone, all the electricity would have to be rewired and the plumbing, they became apparent that it wouldn't be a good use of dollars to try to do all that work when the intent really is to reposition it as something that's more of a contributing business to the community. So although we missed a lot, it would take a significant amount of money to bring that up to a level that I would feel comfortable anybody using as permanent housing. But you did you or the lessee met requirements presented by the city? Absolutely. 100%. Thank you, sir. That's all I've got. Madam President. All right. Thank you, Councilmember Cashman. Councilmember CdeBaca. Think you. Ryan, can you help. Me clarify a couple of things? First of all, what was and is Sage Hospitality's involvement in this project? I have an involvement. They were introduced to me when I purchased it within about a week or two of my purchase to discuss their feeling about a hotel renovation here and whether or not it was a viable project to do such because they're a large hospitality management company in Denver. So I sat down with their executives and discussed it, and they do have a relationship and know national groups very well. And it was indicated to me that National Jewish would keep it full, that there was a need for that. So their interest and their involvement was a brief two or three conversations. But at the end of the day, they elected not to pursue any additional conversation with me, to have them manage a future hotel because it didn't check enough of their strategic boxes. And help me understand, you've said a couple of times that the hotel was. The community's idea after visioning processes, but this conversation happened two weeks after your purchase. If not. Within a shorter period of time after your purchase. And you and I had a conversation when I first got in. Office about where this idea came from. Can you clarify where this hotel idea came from? The way I understand it, before I owned it, the previous owner had discussed with the community his intent to renovate this into a hotel, and that plan didn't move forward. So when I came on board, those discussions had already occurred. I sat down with a former councilman and he indicated to me that the community was desired it, that it would be a good benefit and they would love it and it would be a benefit for National Jewish as well. So I kind of was informed at that time that was the first I had ever heard that a hotel development was kind of of previous conversation with those people that were involved in it. I didn't have any hotel experience. It wasn't what I had planned to do here. I wasn't comfortable with a hotel. But as a commitment to to him and the city, I felt obligated to investigate it and have conversations and see if it was viable. And it sent me down a three year rabbit hole of a lot of self-reflect and risk and conversation. And that's when the community engagement really started in earnest on my behalf because I was a multifamily and multifamily developer. So that was my intent. I was not not not that. But it sounds like the risk has been primarily absorbed by the Kim family. Correct? Well, the risk of operating would be borne by the Kims with regard to liability risk of the hotel, as is the risk of the asset in the event that they can't maintain their business would certainly be borne by me because then I would be in a situation, I would have a vacant building and, you know, trying to figure out what next. So, yeah, we share different risk. You get the. Funding. And the project doesn't meet your needs as far as what. It needs to generate in profit. What is the potential that you will sell. To Sage hospitality? I don't have any relationship with Sage. I would say the potential would be zero. If I were to sell it. It would be something that I would want to sell it to a partner. New Honolulu. I don't. I wouldn't. I wouldn't be working with Sage. I don't have a relationship with Sage. And what is the likelihood that if the boutique hotel. Traditional format. Doesn't work, that you would turn it into. An extended. Stay. Hotel. We're seeing those pop up. Sage Hotel. Sage has one of them in my district that originally started out as a boutique hotel and then turned to extended stay. What's the potential or likelihood that that would happen in this project? And does any of the agreement for TIFF funding. Prohibit. It from happening? Can't speak to the turf, but I can speak to the what if scenario if our plan doesn't work. In a situation where that were to happen, we'd be we'd be probably talking about a default situation with the lender. And that default would the lender would tear the default by foreclosure. And I would assume they would take the asset and auction it to the highest bidder and they would move in at pennies on the dollar and probably keep the same plan in place. That would be what I would assume would happen. And so when we were. Asking for clarity earlier. About luxury hotel versus. Market hotel market rate, I didn't hear prices. And sizes of rooms. Can you kind of give us an idea of how big the. Rooms are going to be and what you're going to be charging. For? Nightly stays at this hotel. What, 54 of the rooms or 265 square feet and 27 or 335 square feet. Those are the ones in the new building. Those are all double queens and the existing building, those are all single kings, was in the neighborhood of 265 square feet. The appraisal of 80 are expectation, which stands for average daily rate came in at about $181 a night on average. And what was the current. Average daily rate? So the average daily rate as a hospitality term for the average that somebody would pay throughout a year, some nights it might be higher than 181, some nights that might be lower than 181. It's seasonal. And the average for the first year of operations and this appraisal that we had conducted was $181. No, I'm actually asking for the current hotel. Motel? What is the current. Average daily rate? That I do not know, since I do not manage it. But I will ask Michelle and see if she has that information. So based on our assessments with the occupants, they were not paying a daily rate. Rather, they were paying a weekly rate. And those weekly rates range from $320 per week to $400. $400 per week. So that would be about $45, $46 a night. Versus $181 a night. Okay. That's it for my questions. Thank you. All right. Thank you, Councilmember CdeBaca. The public hearing is closed. Comments by members of Council on Council Bill 20 2-589. Council members say the Baucus. Thank you. We've heard a really divided set of community members almost evenly split down the middle on this project. And we've heard everything from assumptions that people living in poverty get some kind of deal when they're in hotels, when in fact. It is often the most impoverished people who end up paying a premium on things that we. Take for granted because it is cheaper to be in a hotel. Or a motel when you are unable to meet all of the requirements for a lease, when you are unable to show proof of employment. All of those things that typically are required when you engage in a lease are not required in these weekly, monthly. Daily situations of. Motels and hotels. We've heard confusion about what. Financing is or is. Not, whether there's a loss in the future or a loss currently. But what I think this all boils down. To is that. When we. Allow someone to use a. Public financing tool. There should be significant public gain. A pool with a daily pass for some people, 600 square feet or so of a. Community space without a current. Rate on what that space will cost or who will be in it. A rate jump from approximately $45 a. Night to $181 a night. It doesn't sound like there's a substantial community benefit at a time like the one we're experiencing. This is about a public financing mechanism being used for private profit. Yes. Public private partnerships are always very. Useful when we're trying to do things like create affordable housing. This is not one of those instances. This is an instance where someone bought a piece of land. Significantly discounted. They did not invest very much. They passed on the burden of ownership to a small. Business operator who we should be. Thinking, who did commendable work. To. House the most vulnerable among us while keeping their business alive. And investing in someone. Else's asset. Yet they get nothing from this situation. Those are the people who we should have been figuring out how to create a TIFF financing scheme for. But that's not the case here. And we will be creating a public financing mechanism to benefit someone. Personally their bottom. Line, not our community. It would be great to have a pool. It would be great. To have. A boutique hotel in the neighborhood. But not. On the taxpayer dime, whether it's current taxpayer dollars or future forgone taxpayer dollars. So tonight I will be a no on this. I don't think it's ready. I think there are still residents who are not housed. We talked about this in committee, and I hope that my colleagues who are concerned about those residents getting housed. Stick to their guns and their commitment from committee. So I will be a no on this tonight. Thank you. Thank you, Councilmember CdeBaca. Councilmember Black. Thank you, Madam President. I really appreciate, Councilwoman say, the Baucus comments just now and those of our speakers. And I do understand the need for motels. I know that for a lot of our most at risk and residents who have the greatest needs, it's very difficult to lease a traditional apartment. And so I do understand that and I know we've lost a lot of those properties in our city and along Colfax. I also understand the people who live in the area and and why they would like to see some improvement in the area. I do think it's interesting that how much people pay to live in motels and. We all know that they're they're not they're not usually places where a lot of us would want to live, and they're paying quite a lot of money. There are apartments in Denver. There's a lot in my district that cost a lot less than the Allen Motel. And there's coffee you probably know about some of them in far southeast Denver. And so hopefully you can get every single one of those people into a better living situation where they have a kitchen also. Uh, so of course that is a goal of everyone here. We all want that to happen. This is an interesting example of the city trying to balance multiple goals, housing the desires of a neighborhood, neighborhood safety, community building, addressing blight. But one thing we haven't talked about is the fact that they're preserving an existing building. And so on different nights you might sit here until 11:00 at night and we're talking about preserving buildings, either designate them as a landmark or reusing buildings in another way. And it's something that we all think is very, very important not to tear a building down, because in a lot of instances in Denver, buildings have been torn down. And there's some regret for our community because we've torn down buildings we wish we hadn't torn down. So I appreciate the fact that you're going to reuse the existing building. It's good for our environment, it's bad for our climate to tear down a building and send it to the landfill. So I think that's something that's very different about this project that we than we usually see. Adaptive reuse is challenging and expensive, and I consider this as sort of an incentive, as an incentive to reuse the building. I know in a lot of cases it's cheaper for a developer just to tear down and build, you know, a massive apartment building. I know we've seen that all over the city, including in my district. So I just wanted to bring up that added benefit that I think is very important is the fact that the building would be reused. That's all I have things. Thank you. Councilmember Black. Councilmember Hines. EU Council President. As many of you know, I lived at 92 Logan in the Uptown neighborhood for 13 years. I would regularly go to City Park or through the City Park neighborhoods and along Colfax as I walk my dog between Uptown and City Park. So I visited this motel and would go by it a lot and also went to the Associated Rock Bar years ago when the bar was still open. It was interesting even back then. Still, it's it's great to see this motel up for consideration today, considering I visited this specific location many times and in previous years before I even considered serving in public office. It really helps me to give get some additional context with which to consider the future of 3015 East Colfax. I do want to point out that this is in District nine. However, as of July 2023, when redistricting is complete, this plot will be located in District ten. I think it's also relevant or interesting to note that the District nine sponsored map Map A, even though it wasn't adopted, would also have placed this location into District ten. So I want to thank the neighbors and multiple Arnaud's for their support for this project, including South City Park neighbors, Capitol Hill, United Neighbors and multiple board members at Congress Park Neighbors. As I mentioned in the questions, often Congress park neighbors doesn't take positions. So I think that's part of the reason why Miss Eppler was was specific about how she did not. Her letter was not meant to be representative of KPN, but more on her personal behalf. And I also want to recognize and celebrate the letter of support from. Historic Denver, too. So some constituents have reached out reached out to expressed concern about why this would be a hotel and not affordable housing. After all, that was the original plan for this location. As Mr. Tauber had mentioned, and it was because of the District nine councilmember at the time that this project's focus changed from apartments to hotel rooms. With that new direction, the owner moved forward with hotel rooms. We're in an affordable housing crisis in our mile high income city, that is for sure. The vast majority of new projects in District ten are apartments in Golden Triangle. 14 of the 15 projects currently on the CPD radar are apartments in Cherry Creek. There's a similar picture of the 11 developments currently on the radar in Cherry Creek. In many ways, this is definitely in line with the priorities we've heard about and Guidance Council has given to developers. As in more apartments, please. We need them because because of the housing crisis. But even though we have a housing crisis, it doesn't mean we must devote all resources to housing. It's okay that this project intends to add hotel rooms, particularly because of my next point. This project intends to add multiple amenities designed for the community. Known as the third place. City Park West is in need of a third place where neighbors can meet one another in a public space. I want to thank Mr. Tauber and the project's sponsors for listening to community and prioritizing meeting spaces for the community in their project . This hotel is close to National Jewish, as has been mentioned. And in case people don't already know, perfect ten because it's in my district. And Denver's own national Jewish is the nation's leading respiratory hospital. People come from all over the U.S. for appointments at National Jewish, and loved ones deserve a nearby place to stay when they've come from other states or even countries. I think it's great that our public oversight that will release public tax dollars will create public gathering places on this project. Put another way, we are putting money from the people to work to create community gathering spaces for the people. There are comments showing concerns about the success or lack thereof for boutique hotels or potentially for this hotel. I just mentioned that council shouldn't vote based on opinion of the business plans viability. That's not our business. That is totally fair in this case, Mr. Torbay's success or lack thereof. And and and it's not really up to us to weigh in on whether we think that business model will be successful. But I would just mention that there is another boutique hotel on 11th on Capitol Hill that has had strong success, or at least success, as we would expect given the pandemic of the last couple of years . Finally, considering our long conversation about waste in our city, I am excited to hear and happy to hear that the developers have chosen to rehabilitate the existing structure instead of dumping it all into our landfill. It will help our planet well. And it will also help us remember the hotel from its heyday back in the 1950s and sixties and even 1970s. So I intend to vote for this and I hope my colleagues will as well. Thank you. Thank you. Councilmember Hines, councilmember each. Thank you. Council President I've listened carefully to the presentation tonight and to the testimony. I want to thank Tracy Huggins, in part, who reached out very early when this project was being contemplated to ask what is the best standards that could be used? And I sent the recommendation of using be connected someone who's not a professional relocation assistance provider in the realm of urban renewal, but is in the business of placing people who are deeply low income and contingent housing into safer and more stable housing. And so I can't find flaws with the process that was used here to assist these residents with the stability that they might be gaining. I can't find supply with residents who may be on the move and less interested in the services that are being offered. And I can't find flaw necessarily with the project. I think I understand why the neighborhoods nearby have supported it. I think it's a worthy project in terms of trying to provide a hotel in a neighborhood that can use something of this scale, whether it's for medical visits or entertainment visits. All of that is no criticism and lots of good reasons to for my colleagues who will be supporting it. I have a long and nuanced history with the tool of tax increment financing. When before I was a council member, I was a watchdog of this tool, and I believe that it is neither good nor bad on its own. It's about how it's used, and I have really high standards. I believe that our public financing is rare. It's a privilege. It's not something that every project that's struggling to make ends meet can get. And even though each project is evaluated individually, it's not an infinite tool. There would be a limit to how many projects our finance department would be comfortable with in terms of the tax revenue that goes off the books rather than coming in when that project is completed. It would have limits in terms of the. The. Board's willingness to adopt those projects. And so when a tool is rare and it's a privilege, it has to be used on the highest and most important uses. And and there are uses that I don't think it's appropriate for. And so in this case, in spite of feeling that this team has done everything it can for vulnerable residents, I think about this project like I do some of the early urban renewal, which was single room occupancy housing, and that was raised in Mass in places like LoDo and replaced with other types of uses that certainly are nice and lovely. But that to me is just not the legacy of what public financing tools should be focused on. And so in spite of the fact that there was a good process here and that this is substandard housing, I don't romanticize it. Keeping it would not serve those residents necessarily in terms of their long term stability, certainly not their financial stability. In spite of all of those reasons, I just don't think this is an appropriate use of our public taxpayer dollars, particularly at this time. So I can't support the project tonight. I'll be a no, but I respect those who evaluated things differently, and I hope that we can continue to prioritize the use of tests and projects that are delivering the types of housing and the types of long term sustainable housing that our city needs when we're vetting projects. So that would be a higher priority for me than this type of project. So thank you. Thank you. Councilmember Kinney. Councilmember Ortega. Thank you, Madam President. I just wanted to express why I'm going to be voting yes for this tonight. Dora has historically been a tool used for lots of different kinds of projects. If you all remember, we voted on Costco, which previously was assigned for a Lowe's project. And then I think you got reassigned, if I remember that correctly. I can remember the Broadway marketplace was done with TIFF, and at that time that didn't include housing. That was, you know, to bring some commercial to that area of the city that didn't that was desperately needed. It did displace some residents, but they were relocated. The Dora funds were used for that purpose, as they have been for many, many projects. The 38th the Denver Post site near the 41st and Fox project included tax increment financing. That's a mixed use project that will include some housing. I could go on and on. The Stapleton had $300 million in tax increment financing, and that did include some affordable housing that was negotiated with the developer to ensure that we were working to include low income residents in that development. So the tool and you all know about downtown and how much that was used throughout our downtown for various projects. So I wouldn't say that it solely has to be used for residential projects. Historically, it's been a mixed bag and I think this is an appropriate use. I appreciate that each of the tenants who have been in that building were being relocated. And again, that's part of the use or has been can be reimbursed. Use of the funds that allow these projects to happen. Typically tip has been used as a gap financing in in many cases the developer would not be able to do a project without the tax increment financing to help close the gap and allow the project to exist. So those are reasons why I think we have to look at each one based on the merits of the project in front of us and not always try to compare one to another, because the geography and some of the issues with the site are all very different from one another. And this one has its own circumstances that I believe justify the need for us moving this forward. So I will be a yes vote today. Thank you. Thank you, Councilmember Ortega. And I do appreciate all of the public speakers who shared their perspective tonight as well. And based on the merits of the project and the current state of the property, I am in favor of this tonight and we'll be voting on it affirmatively as well. Madam Secretary, roll call on Council Bill 22, Dash five, eight, nine. CDEBACA No. Can each. No. Hines. Yes. Black eye. Clark. Eye for an. Eye. Herndon, i. Cashman. May. Ortega. Sawyer, I. Torres, I. Madam President. I am secretary. Closed the voting and announce the results. Three days. Nine eyes. Nine eyes. Counselor Bill 20 2-5, eight, nine has passed. Again. Thank you to our speakers. Councilmember Black, will you please put Bill 590 on the floor for final passage? Yes. I move that council bill 20 20590 will be placed upon final consideration and do pass. Thank you. It got us moved and seconded. Thank you. Comments by members of Council. Council Member State Abarca. You know, for this one. Okay. I don't have any other members of council in the queue. And so Madam Secretary, roll call on Council Bill 22, Dash 590, please. Sorry. We have the wrong thing.