WEEK OF SEPTEMBER 28, 2023
VOLUME 135 | ISSUE 8
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Council opts to redevelop Geneva Village, force residents to move Mary Hansen, a resident of Geneva Village, asks the city council to save her home at the Sept. 19 city council meeting.
BY NINA JOSS NJOSS@COLORADOCOMMUNITYMEDIA.COM
After years of uncertainty about the future of their apartment complex, the 12 female residents of Geneva Village will now be required to find new homes. In what some Littleton city councilmembers deemed the hardest decision they had ever been faced with, the elected leaders voted to redevelop the 28-unit, low-income, senior housing complex instead of rehabilitating it. Residents have worried what might become of their homes since fall 2019, when notices taped to tenant’s doors informed them that the city would stop filling vacancies in the complex “pending further decisions.” From there, the city developed two main options for the aging property, which officials say would cost about $5 million to rehabilitate. One option was to conduct the rehabilitation, including electrical and plumbing updates, heating and cooling system improvements, asbestos abatement, replacing drywall, cabinets, adding energy-efficient appliances and more, according to
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HEART MATTERS city documents. Alternatively, staff recommended that the city redevelop the property in order to increase needed affordable housing stock in the community and to activate the area as a “northern gateway” into downtown Littleton with mixed-use spaces. “(The council) is grappling with, as you think about what’s in the best interest of the city, issues ranging from historic significance, to financial responsibility with city resources, to the opportunities to meet many of the community’s current critical challenges, like housing and integration
VOICES: 14 | LIFE: 16 | CALENDAR: 19
with the vision taking shape for downtown,” City Manager Jim Becklenberg said at the Sept. 19 meeting. Above the many factors involved in the decision, Becklenberg said ensuring the welfare of the current residents was paramount. No matter which decision the council made, he said, there would be some housing instability for the residents. The decision to move forward with redevelopment plans passed in a 6-1 vote, with At-Large Councilmember Pam Grove voting no. SEE GENEVA, P12
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