Finally – Big Shovels are in the Ground!
At long last… we’ve broken ground at Clara Brown Commons. This time, with big yellow machines.
On a lovely spring day last April, little gold shovels turned the dirt. Hundreds of you joined us for the groundbreaking ceremony, with high hopes construction would begin shortly. Then, unprecedented backlogs with city paperwork meant more waiting. All summer and into the fall, delay after delay. We’ve been antsy—but practicing trust and living in hope.
Now we can finally say: construction is officially under way!
We’ve never been so happy to watch machinery. It means we’re just a year away from what so many families are hoping for.
This kicks off the first phase of CBC’s development:
- A beautiful new apartment building with 61 residences
- Indoor community spaces: a welcome center, chapel, exercise room, dining hall, kids’ corner, commercial kitchen, and spacious event rooms
- Outdoor gathering spaces and play areas
- A comfy living room area dedicated to the memory of our namesake, Clara Brown
- Office space for staff dedicated to community-building with residents on site
- Environmentally friendly features
All 61 homes at CBC will be permanently affordable for people whose income is below Area Median Income (AMI). A large portion will be reserved for households in the very lowest income category (less than 30% of AMI). CBC would be an ideal home for families who graduate from Joshua Station!
Next year our friends from Habitat for Humanity will start building 17 for-sale townhomes on the site. In 2024, we’ll build a community center that serves our families and the broader neighborhood.
Denver’s high cost of land and construction make it difficult to build housing that is truly affordable for low income residents – but more important than ever to do so! For detail geeks (you know who you are!)…
- The entire price tag to build Clara Brown Commons will be over $30 million, including $27 million on this first phase.
- The funding comes from private investors, local government, bank loans, and very low interest loans from local foundations. All of that was leveraged by $5 million in generosity from over 200 individuals, families, corporations, and community organizations like The Anschutz Foundation and The Colorado Health Foundation. At the heart of the effort was a generous family that quietly bought and held the land for years until we were ready to build.
- Guiding the creation of the complex financial arrangement has been the job of our longtime friend and colleague, Ray Stranske, who with his wife Marilyn founded Hope Communities forty years ago and who has been a faith-rooted leader in building affordable housing in Denver.
- Ray and I first walked this land in 2006 and prayed about how to redeem decades of neglect by its latest owner. I remember being discouraged when Ray said; “I don’t know, Jeff. This would really be a complicated real estate project.” Then he said, “But if you ever try to do it, I sure want to be part of it!”
Believe it or not, even as we pay close attention to the design and funding of Clara Brown Commons, we are equally immersed in planning for community life when construction is finished. For twenty years we’ve been learning at Joshua Station how to encourage residents to become neighbors and share life together. It’s what we call “housing that heals,” and it’s something we all need.
On a chilly wet day when clouds hung low… spirits were high for Joshua Station’s 20th Anniversary Celebration and Family Carnival. What a reunion! Staff, volunteers, and donors from all 20 years. Residents from the early days, and new arrivals. Hugs were warm and delight overflowed.
We’re grateful for all we’ve experienced of God and each other in this precious place. Here’s to the next 20!
