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WEEK OF JULY 11, 2024
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Highlighting Tennyson Street
Denver real estate firm donates apartments to 10 early-career teachers
VOLUME 97 | ISSUE 32
BY MELANIE ASMAR CHALKBEAT COLORADO
mits needed for the event, and closing the streets during it. “We work with Denver police to make sure it’s as safe as can be,” Karnemaat said. “We were very happy with the turnout for year one. It’s really about getting the word out in the community.” The event has a lot to offer. There will be 15 food trucks, including one selling sushi. More than 100 makers selling handcrafted jewelry, rugs, spices, art, candles, skin-care products and more. Inflatable devices will be available for kids to enjoy, and there will be yoga sessions — be sure to bring your own mat. The live music lineup includes Native Space and Break Signals.
Ten early-career Denver classroom teachers will get free rent for a year in a new upscale apartment building in the northwest part of the city — a novel, if incremental, approach to the problem of rising housing costs making it difficult for teachers to live close to where they work. Real estate investment firm Grand Peaks, whose founders attended Denver Public Schools, are donating 10 apartments in the 533-unit Skyline at Highlands development in the Jefferson Park neighborhood. The teachers will be able to live there rent-free from August through next July. Sara Hazel, the president and CEO of the Denver Public Schools Foundation, said the foundation chose the 10 teachers in a random drawing from among about 215 who applied. Only classroom teachers with zero to three years of experience were eligible. “I got to have my Oprah moment sending emails to these 10 winners and sharing the wonderful news,” Hazel said. “The response we’ve gotten — the quotes are, ‘This is life changing for my family.’ ‘You have no idea how much this means to me.’” Marc Swerdlow, president of Grand Peaks, said the company’s founders, the Simpson family, wanted to do something for Denver teachers after reading news about pay disparities and the struggle to find affordable housing. The average apartment rent in the gentrifying city was $1,875 a month in the first quarter of this year, the Denver Post reported.
SEE STREET FAIR, P4
SEE DONATION, P12
Revelers enjoy live music, kid-friendly activities and culinary options from restaurants along Tennyson and 15 different food PHOTOS COURTESY OF RYAN COX PHOTOGRAPHY trucks.
Second annual street fair returns July 20 BY BRUCE GOLDBERG SPECIAL TO THE WASHINGTON PARK PROFILE
The inaugural Tennyson Street Fair in north Denver went well last year, drawing roughly 15,000 people who came to eat, drink, check out homemade art objects and hear live music. Not to mention that the event drew about 100 exhibitors. The event did well enough to jump the number of this year’s exhibitors by about 33% to 150 – a big step for something so new. The Tennyson Street Fair returns this year from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. on Saturday, July 20. Attendance is free.
A portion of fair proceeds will benefit the Tennyson Berkeley Business Association. Organizers recommend that attendees take Lyft, Uber or public transportation to avoid parking problems. The block party will run along Tennyson from West 41st Avenue to West 43rd Avenue. What do organizers wish for this year? “Really building the community and showing off what the community has to offer,” said Nathan Karnemaat, event director at Team Player Productions, which produces the event. “Year one was a huge success. We had a lot of local businesses that participated. We love to show off the community and what it’s all about.” He also credited the City of Denver for such items as pulling all the per-
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