Denver leaders gathered to celebrate the grand opening of a new affordable housing development named in honor of jazz musician and World War II veteran Charles Burrell.

Burrell has been called the “Jackie Robinson of jazz music” and is a world-renowned bassist. He was the first Black man to be a member of the Colorado Symphony Orchestra, then called the Denver Symphony Orchestra, and was one of the first Black Americans to join the faculty of the San Francisco Conservatory of Music.

Now a building with 49 units bears his name in the historically underserved Five Points neighborhood.

The grand opening comes at a critical time for Denver, as the city struggles to deal with housing affordability among other issues. The addition of 49 units may at first appear to be a drop in the bucket when one considers Denver Mayor Mike Johnston’s plan to build 3,000 affordable units by the end of 2024, but city staff say every little bit helps.

“The Burrell” will offer one-, two-, and three-bedroom condos restricted to residents making 80% or less of the area median income (AMI). Units start at $205,000. 

Nearby are two of Denver’s most underserved communities: Globeville and Elyria/Swansea. District 9 Councilman Darrell Watson said the neighborhoods are not being overlooked and are the subject of significant investment and development that he said puts equity first. 

“(The Burrell) offers an opportunity, in the namesake of a person within this community that we love and honor, to make sure that folks can buy homes and build wealth,” he said. “Tierra Colectiva has been doing good work in Globeville and Elyria/Swansea for six years. And as the District 9 Councilman, I am sponsoring two of their developments, one of which has already cleared (the) City Council.”

Watson said investment from the city through the RISE Denver Bond and other sources has freed up tens of millions of dollars for those investments, which includes a new library.

Tying affordability to AMI has been criticized by former City Council members, as they worried 80% AMI today – which is $69,520, according to Denver’s Department of Housing Stability (HOST) – will be unaffordable in the near future. The issue was prominent during the Park Hill Golf Course redevelopment discussion, which city voters soundly rejected last year.

But HOST Executive Director Jamie Rife still sees it as an effective way to get units built, especially considering the 99-year covenant in place for the units at “The Burrell.” The covenant will reset to a new owner if the current owner decides to sell, thus increasing the odds of a wealth building investment for new owners, building developers said.

Rife said Johnston’s goals are “ambitious,” and small developments like “The Burrell” can be critical in reaching them.

“We know that we have a several thousand-unit deficit and this is a great step in the right direction, particularly for home ownership,” she said. “We’re still working really hard, not just at HOST but across the city, to figure out what we can do to meet this ambitious goal.”

Denver and the surrounding metro area has a housing shortage and has failed to build enough units to address it, according to a report by the Common Sense Institute. In its report, the non-partisan, Denver-based think tank identified an 18,910 unit shortage in Denver alone.

The report’s authors identify several issues contributing to this, ranging from rising interest rates to housing prices, which have more than doubled in 10 years. A resident has to work 105 hours to cover their mortgage at the average hourly wage in Denver, up from 38 hours in 2013, according to the report.

“The Denver metro area continues to grapple with an acute housing shortage, resulting in sky-high home prices and an alarming affordability crisis for owners and renters alike,” the report reads. “Simultaneously, a stark divide persists between Colorado cities and the state government in addressing the housing unit deficit.”

Last year, Gov. Jared Polis attempted to pass a sweeping land use reform bill that essentially forced municipalities to adopt densification goals – even in places it may not have made sense. The bill failed.

However, another bill worked its way through the legislature championing density along transit corridors, which won support from Denver leaders.

Polis is expected to sign the bill into law after it cleared the legislature earlier this month.