EC3 Members and partners celebrate the acquisition of 1371 Xenia St. in Denver. Photo courtesy: Abel Getachew

This month,the East Colfax Community Collective (EC3), a local organization that works to prevent evictions, purchased a 23-unit apartment building at 1371 Xenia St. in Denver as part of an effort to create housing stability in the area and stop displacement of residents. By working with a national housing organization called Trust neighborhoods, EC3 was able to develop a Mixed-Income Neighborhood Trust (MINT) that will oversee the project. It is the first acquisition for the organization.

Trust Stewardships Committee member Htoo Paw speaks at the Xenia St. ownership celebration. Photo courtesy: Mitchell Weldon

This is the first acquisition for EC- MINT. The goal is to own 100 to 250 units over the next two years. Within a decade that number is expected to grow to one thousand units.

“We want to become a major player and a major owner in this area. The more properties we can acquire and put under this model, the greater our impact will be, both on the properties themselves and on the market…we’ll be able to influence the direction of how things are done, in terms of rent setting and habitability and other practices that landlords carry out,” says Carson Bryant, the East Colfax MINT Director.

The Xenia St. building was purchased for $3.07 million, and a local property owner will manage the apartments. Some of the money came from two lenders, Mercy Community Capital and the Colorado Housing Accelerator Initiative. The MINT also received grant funding from the Colorado Health Initiative and Gary Community Ventures.

The idea for community ownership came from a 2022 survey of community members seeking solutions to rising rents and habitability.

Bryant says, “this project is distinctive because community members take a leading role in ownership, not literally in ownership, in deciding their own futures.” He is currently working with the property manager to educate residents about the new ownership model.

East Colfax MINT Director Carson Bryant talks to EC3 Members and partners outside the Xenia St. complex. Photo courtesy: Mitchell Weldon

On Sept. 21, community members celebrated the new ownership model. Brendan Greene, Co-Founder and Executive Director of the EC3, says “If you believe that we can build strong affordable housing in the Denver Metro area we invite you to join us. We are looking to raise millions of dollars in the next year to fund our next round of acquisitions, and know there are people out there with resources who believe in protecting the Denver Metro area we all grew up in.”

Community and or city ownership of properties has been talked about in housing affordability conversations across Denver, and project leaders hope the Xenia St. building serves as an example for the future.

EC MINT Trust Stewardship Committee member, Htoo Paw added this is a way for the community to have a voice in many languages, and “with that one voice we speak up against slumlords, we speak up against rent increases, we speak up against displacement. Most of all, we speak love, and unity, and for a prosperous future for EC3, MINT, and 1371 Xenia.”