Partner Spotlight of the Month: Archway Communities

Archway Communities elevates lives by providing affordable housing, food security, and the supportive social services people need to thrive. Since its founding in 1995, Archway Communities has steadfastly committed to providing service-enriched affordable housing for very low-to-moderate-income families in Colorado. They are guided by seeing the humanity and interconnectedness in all they do and aiding in creating communities grounded in dignity and respect for families, neighbors, and staff.

While Archway Communities develops exceptional affordable housing, their services extend beyond the typical developer mode. Instead, Archway Communities keeps several post-development services in-house. After creating an affordable housing project, Archway remains the property manager, providing a full array of on-site supportive services to better accommodate their resident families and individuals according to each property.

“We were thrilled when Archway Communities signed on to be our partner at the former Johnson & Wales Campus,” said Aaron Miripol, ULC’s President & CEO. “They embody ULC’s values of truly committing to the community for the long-term, and we know they will be a valuable asset to the Park Hill neighborhood and beyond.”

Archway has purchased Presidents & Founders Halls and plans to purchase two additional dormitory buildings on the east campus, Johnson & Wales Halls. These four historic buildings will be transformed into approximately 154 affordable housing units, creating opportunities for families below 60% of the Area Median Income. In addition, these families will benefit from a campus designed as an accessible site for multi-cultural, multigenerational uses, including high-quality P-12 education, permanently affordable housing, culinary arts training, community spaces, and services that enhance the surrounding communities.

In addition to providing affordable housing, Archway will offer various services through its Family Services Programming (FSP), which currently provides year-round supportive services and developmental programs for adults and youth living in all ten existing housing communities.

“At the former Johnson and Wales site, our Services Program will be geared towards families,” said Hannah Berkowitz, Archway’s Development Associate. “These services might include a Food Bank, Kid’s Club, Green Cleaning workshops, Healthy Cooking Classes, Life Skills Buildings, and Employment Support.”

Archway has already successfully secured Low Income Housing Tax Credits to support the adaptive reuse of the buildings, which means that they plan to keep the integrity of the buildings and only remodel their interiors. They are also planning to utilize Historic Tax Credits.

“It really speaks to ULC’s impact within the community for how quickly Archway and ULC were able to move our partnership forward and receive the funding necessary to ensure the community needs will be met with this project,” said Hannah Berkowitz.

As Archway looks to the future, it hopes to continue equitably expanding outside the Denver Metro Area and Colorado Springs and become a huge industry player in the affordable housing space. It also hopes to serve as a unique model of an affordable developer who stays with a project from conception through property management and service provision, demonstrating the benefit of investing in a community over the long term.