Denver celebrates the opening of 49 new affordable condos in Five Points neighborhood in The Burrell

Rising housing and rent costs are some of the biggest hurdles families in the Denver metro area face. This week Denver city officials celebrated the opening of 49 new affordable condos in the Five Points neighborhood. They are inside a new building called The Burrell Denver which is named after renowned Black musician Charles Burrell.

The Burrell is located on the 3500 block of Chestnut Place -- right across the street from the start of the RiNo arts district -- and housing like it is badly needed. It gives people who are earning up to or below 80% of the area median income an opportunity to purchase a home for the first time. A family of three qualifies if they earn $80,000 a year. A single person qualifies if they are earning about $66,000 a year.

Morgan English, 28, is in that category and says without this opportunity it would be impossible for her to own a home at her age.

"This is sort of a dream for me to be able to move out of my parents' house, live in this area -- which is one of the most up-and-coming areas - and especially for me wanting to work with the arts, it's exactly where I want to be," she said.

Now she's in the process of buying a two-bedroom condo. Her monthly mortgage at The Burrell Denver will be less than $1,700.
She is a lawyer and an artist and is excited to have affordable housing as an option.

"I went to law school originally so that I can do pro bono or low-cost legal services, but there is not a lot of money in that as a lawyer, so when I'm thinking about my student loan debt and then also potentially housing costs in Denver, it's almost impossible to do things for the community," English said.

Denver city officials say the need for affordable housing is steady. They get calls on a daily basis asking for help.

"It's not every city that has a land trust model at work delivering permanently affordable home ownership units, and that's what we have here in Denver through partners the housing stability department works with," said Derek Woodbury, who works for the city's Department of Housing Stability.

As of Thursday evening, condos at The Burrell are still available to own.

"It just kind of makes me feel like I will have an asset and I am able to focus on my other dreams," English said.