In response to a federal lawsuit filed by the Colorado Coalition for the Homeless federal officials have delayed the sale of 59 acres to developers for 45 days, giving some hope that the land could be used to shelter homeless people.
“This is a great first step in stopping the sale of the property to commercial interests,” Colorado Coalition for the Homeless CEO John Parvensky said.
The property was scheduled to be auctioned on Tuesday, the same day Parvensky sued in U.S. District Court in Denver to stop the sale until authorities reconsider a request by coalition to use to provide housing and services to underprivileged families and other people.
The lawsuit named the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and the General Services Administration as defendants.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office notified a federal judge that they will take no action on the auction until Sept. 8 and take that time to review the suitability of the land for subsidized housing, Parvensky said in a news release.
“We hope that this pause will give all parties the time to correct this potential injustice, and make this property available for development of supportive housing and services needed by a growing homeless population in Lakewood and throughout the Metro Denver Area,” Parvensky said.
The homeless coalition will continue to pursue its request for an Injunction and order requiring HUD to re-evaluate the suitability of the property for addressing the needs of the homeless as required by Title V of the McKinney-Vento Act. The act gives homeless agencies preferential treatment amounting to the right of first refusal when federal properties are sold.
“It continues to confound us that HUD could have determined that the Federal Center Station property, located adjacent to the RTD station and St. Anthony’s Hospital, was ‘unsuitable for use to assist the homeless’, while GSA determined that it was more than suitable for high-end residential and commercial development,” Parvensky wrote in a news release.
