

The Mariposa District redevelopment runs between West Ninth and 11th avenues, east of the Osage and 10th light rail station and west of Mariposa Street. The district is expected to cost $197 million, cover 14 acres and add 581 multi-family, mixed-income units to the area.
The burgeoning movement to build projects that interact with new and planned transit led DHA and city leaders to create one of Denver’s first station area plans. Such plans are still used by the city to lay out visions for the area around transit stations.
Planners working on Mariposa included a mix of housing choices to make sure that people living in the existing affordable housing were not displaced.
Phase 1, The Tapiz was the first of eight redevelopment phases that Denver Housing Authority undertook to demolish and replace its 250-unit South Lincoln Park Homes. Several residents refer to the former complex as “the projects.”
It includes 100 public housing units for senior and disabled households, all of which were leased before construction was completed in January 2013. By June 2012, the 8,000 square feet of commercial space in Phase 1 was occupied by DHA offices, a culinary training school, a computer lab, a nonprofit organization, and community meeting space. LEED Platinum certification is pending for Phase 1, which features a geothermal energy system, a greywater recycling system, and a rooftop solar photovoltaic array.
Phase 2, The Arches was completed in October 2013, has 93 rental residences consisting of public housing, privately managed low-income housing tax credit (LIHTC) units, and market-rate units, as well as 5,500 square feet of commercial space.
All of the residential units are leased and nearly all of the commercial space is occupied. Both phases incorporate features that will decrease energy consumption by up to 50 percent. Phase 2 was designed to meet LEED Gold standards.
Phase 3, Mariposa was completed December 2013 and contains 87 market-rate, public housing, and privately managed LIHTC rental units and 11,000 square feet of commercial space. Six subsequent phases of the Mariposa District project will contain additional commercial spaces and the remainder of the site’s 800 housing units.
DHA will maintain ownership of all land and will supervise all development in the Mariposa District. A partnership of DHA and the various tax credit investors will own the buildings in the development’s different phases. DHA will manage Mariposa’s commercial space, and a private company will manage the residential units.