Colorado neighborhood welcomes new housing development thanks to 2021 ordinance, demolition set for motel
The American Motel in the Denver metro area is boarded up and ready for demolition as the City of Wheat Ridge prepares for something new.
"It's exciting to see permanent housing options go up in this area," said Wheat Ridge Communications Manager Amanda Harrison.
Back in 2021, city leaders, hearing community concerns about increasing crime and decreasing standards of living at several hotels and motels in a concentrated area of Wheat Ridge, established new standards for business licensure.
"Many of the hotels or motels have stepped up to meet our community values," Harrison told CBS Colorado. "They've installed fences, they've installed security systems, they've hired security forces."
While it's led to the closure and demolition of properties like the American Motel, it's also opened the door for developers to build more housing in a community that sorely needed it. According to Cassie Ratliff, the Chief Impact Officer for the nonprofit Family Tree, there were 18 individuals living in the motel when the closure was announced.
Through their organization, with funding from Wheat Ridge, they were able to find new permanent housing for those individuals before demolition began.
"They could pay the rent," said Ratliff. "They could pay rent on an apartment because they could pay the rent on a motel. But they couldn't afford to move out. So we gave them a resource to move out. People wanted to find their new home or their next place and we were able to help them navigate that."
Wheat Ridge police told CBS Colorado that the nine hotels and motels in the city accounted for roughly 10% of all calls for service before the ordinance took effect. By 2024, the calls for service had dropped to just 4%.
"Calls for service in the area dropped 50%," said Harrison. "Calls for service at the hotels have decreased by almost 30 percent. That's significant. It's made for a much safer area, which has invited investment."
A move that builds housing in a city that needs it while aiming to reduce crime for those living there. The motel is slated for demolition in the coming weeks, with the developer taking over the site to begin construction in the future.
