The Denver Housing Authority (DHA) celebrated the next phase of community revitalization at the Mariposa development on West 10th Ave. and Navajo St. on April 10. Festivities began with an opening ceremony with local dignitaries Ismael Guerrero, DHA’s Executive Director, Congresswoman Diana DeGette, Denver Mayor Michael Hancock, Rick García Dir. Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Region VIII, Denver City Councilwoman Judy Montero, Lloyd “Skip” Brown, DBE/SBE Compliance Officer with the Regional Transportation District (RTD) and EPA Regional Dir. Jim Martin.

Phase II construction will begin immediately and is scheduled for completion next summer. Work includes major infrastructure improvements on West 10th Ave, which will become the neighborhood’s central promenade, and a plaza for community gatherings, markets and festivals. Four new mixed-income, mixed-use buildings totaling 93 residential units will be built to LEED Gold standards, including rooftop solar panels. The residential units will be 1, 2, 3 and 4-bedroom apartments and townhomes. The area will be graced by a dramatic sculpture by prominent local artist Emanuel Martínez.

“We’ll officially start construction on four new buildings and a central plaza while welcoming new arts, education and culinary tenants,” said Guerrero. “Mariposa is becoming the creative urban community we’ve all envisioned.”

The first building on West 10th Ave. and Navajo St. will include a 6,000 square-foot, ground floor space for a youth media studio in partnership with Flobots.org, a nonprofit organization. The award-winning group is fundraising for the $2.75 million state-of-the-art space, which will also include an indoor/outdoor performance venue, digital design studio and space for poetry, music and youth leadership workshops.

“This sustainable, transit-oriented project is a true example of how public-private partnerships can be leveraged to create jobs and long-term solutions for local communities,” said Rep. DeGette. “I’m so proud that this first $22 million phase of construction is estimated to create 300 jobs, with approximately $47 million in local spending through contracts, materials, equipment and labor.”

Groundbreaking comments were followed by a community open house at Tapiz Apartments at 11th Ave and Osage, a new 100-unit affordable LEED apartment community.

Denver’s West High School marching band led a colorful parade throughout the west Denver neighborhood leading to the Tapiz Apartments.

“Today, we are in the heart of one of Denver’s many culturally rich neighborhoods, bringing a mixed-use, family friendly community adjacent to the light rail and the Santa Fe Arts business district,” said Mayor Hancock. “This nationally recognized redevelopment project is truly a stunning model of sustainable living in Denver that exemplifies how together we are delivering a world class city where everyone matters.”

The Tapiz Apartment building also hosts a wide variety of programs for the community. A new state-of-the-art kitchen and café for Youth Culinary Academy, where nearly 100 youth have graduated from this successful program, going on to jobs in the culinary industry. The Osage Café is open to the public and located on 11th Ave. and Osage.

The Connections@Tapiz is a new community center offering job training, health and wellness programs and social activities for residents.

The Tapiz building is also a new permanent space for Arts Street, a nonprofit that provides classes and multimedia design instruction to more than 2,000 under-served youth each year.

Tapiz is one of Denver’s greenest buildings, with rooftop solar photovoltaic, geothermal and gray water recycling systems. The 100-unit, LEED-Platinum building was named one of the “100 Recovery Act Projects Changing America” by HUD.

Denver Mayor Michael Hancock, U.S. Rep. Diana DeGette and Housing and Urban Development Administrator Rick Garcia sign a ceremonial building beam at the April 10 Mariposa Phase 2 groundbreaking in Denver. (Photo courtesy of DHA)

The Denver Housing Authority celebrated the next phase of community revitalization at its Mariposa development on West 10th Avenue and Navajo Street in Denver on April 10.

Phase 2 construction will begin immediately and is scheduled for completion next summer. Work includes major infrastructure improvements on West 10th Avenue, which will become the neighborhood’s central promenade, and a plaza for community gatherings, markets and festivals. Four new mixed-income, mixed-use buildings totaling 93 residential units will be built to LEED-Gold standards, including rooftop solar panels. The residential units will be 1, 2, 3 and 4-bedroom apartments and townhomes. The area will be graced by a dramatic sculpture by local artist Emanuel Martinez.

“We’ll officially start construction on four new buildings and a central plaza while welcoming new arts, education and culinary tenants,” said Ismael Guerrero, executive director, Denver Housing Authority. “Mariposa is becoming the creative urban community we’ve all envisioned.”

The first building on West 10th Avenue and Navajo Street will include a 6,000-sq-ft, ground-floor space for a youth media studio in partnership with Flobots.org, a nonprofit. The group is fundraising for the $2.75-million, state-of-the-art space, which will also include an indoor-outdoor performance venue, digital design studio and space for poetry, music and youth leadership workshops.

DHA’s urban design team, led by OZ Architecture, includes Perspective3 and Urban Ventures. Landscape design is by Wenk Associates Inc. and civil engineering by Jansen Strawn Consulting Engineers. The general contractor is Denueve Construction.

“This sustainable, transit-oriented project is a true example of how public-private partnerships can be leveraged to create jobs and long-term solutions for local communities,” said U.S. Rep. Diana DeGette (D), at the groundbreaking. “I’m so proud that this $22-million phase of construction is estimated to create 300 jobs, with approximately $47 million in local spending through contracts, materials, equipment and labor.”

“Today, we are in the heart of one of Denver’s many culturally rich neighborhoods, bringing a mixed-use, family-friendly community adjacent to the light rail and the Santa Fe Arts business district,” said Denver Mayor Michael B. Hancock. “This nationally recognized redevelopment project is truly a stunning model of sustainable living in Denver that exemplifies how together we are delivering a world-class city where everyone matters.”

The groundbreaking was followed by a community open house at nearby Tapiz Apartments, the new 100-unit, affordable, LEED-certified apartment community at 11th and Osage, with a state-of-the-art kitchen and café for the Youth Culinary Academy. Nearly 100 young people have graduated from the program, going on to jobs in the culinary industry.

Tapiz is a new community center offering job training, health and wellness programs and social activities for residents. It also houses permanent space for Arts Street, a nonprofit that provides classes and multimedia design instruction to more than 2,000 under-served youth each year. The 100-unit, LEED-Platinum building, which opened to residents in February, was named one of the “100 Recovery Act Projects Changing America” by the U.S. Dept. of Housing and Urban Development.

The Denver Housing Authority, in partnership with the city of Denver, RTD and the community, continues work on several other sustainable transit-oriented developments. Some of the transit-oriented developments planned or under way on the FasTracks West Corridor light rail line include Federal Decatur Station, Knox Station and 44th Avenue.

There will be drum lines, music and colorful pinwheels instead of the traditional ceremonial silver shovels used at groundbreakings, from 1:30 p.m. to 2:15 p.m. today, as the Denver Housing Authority celebrates the next phase of the Mariposa development on West 10th Avenue and Navajo Street.

This phase of construction for the urban transit-oriented community includes four new buildings with a total of 93 mixed-income residential units. It also includes a community plaza and a central promenade connecting the West 10th and Osage light-rail station to the Santa Fe Arts District community.

“We’ll officially start construction on four new buildings and a central plaza while welcoming new arts, education and culinary tenants,” said Ismael Guerrero, the executive director of DHA. “Mariposa is becoming the creative urban community we’ve all envisioned.”

The first building on West 10th Avenue and Navajo Street will include a 6,000 square-foot, ground floor space for a youth media studio in partnership with Flobots.org, a nonprofit organization. The award-winning group is fundraising for the $2.75 million state-of-the-art space, which will also include an indoor/outdoor performance venue, digital design studio and space for poetry, music and youth leadership workshops.

A short groundbreaking ceremony will be followed by a parade to an open house featuring a building tour of the new 100-unit Tapiz Apartments, as well as classrooms, art and culinary organizations now operating at Mariposa.

“We are in the heart of one of Denver’s many culturally rich neighborhoods, bringing a mixed-use, family friendly community adjacent to the light rail and the Santa Fe Arts business district,” said Denver Mayor Michael B. Hancock. “This nationally recognized redevelopment project is truly a stunning model of sustainable living in Denver that exemplifies how together we are delivering a world-class city where everyone matters.”

Phase II construction will begin immediately and is scheduled for completion next summer. Work includes major infrastructure improvements on West 10th Avenue, which will become the neighborhood’s central promenade, and a plaza for community gatherings, markets and festivals. Four new mixed-income, mixed-use buildings totaling 93 residential units will be built to LEED Gold standards, including rooftop solar panels. The residential units will be 1, 2, 3 and 4-bedroom apartments and townhomes. The area will be graced by a dramatic sculpture by prominent local artist Emanuel Martinez.

DHA’s urban design team, led by OZ Architecture, includes Perspective3 and Urban Ventures. Landscape design is by Wenk Associates, Inc. and civil engineering by Jansen Strawn Consulting Engineers. The general contractor is Denueve Construction.

According to Representative Diana DeGette, “This sustainable, transit-oriented project is a true example of how public-private partnerships can be leveraged to create jobs and long-term solutions for local communities,“ said Rep. Diana DeGette, D-Denver. “I’m so proud that this first $22 million phase of construction is estimated to create 300 jobs, with approximately $47 million in local spending through contracts, materials, equipment and labor.”

The development already includes the 100-unit, affordable Tapiz Apartments, which is LEED-certified.

Features at Tapiz include:

A new state-of-the-art kitchen and café for Youth Culinary Academy. Nearly 100 youth have graduated from this successful program, going on to jobs in the culinary industry.

Connections@Tapiz, a new community center offering job training, health and wellness programs and social activities for residents.

New permanent space for Arts Street, a nonprofit that provides classes and multimedia design instruction to more than 2,000 under-served youth each year.

Tapiz is one of Denver’s greenest buildings, with rooftop solar photovoltaic, geothermal and gray water recycling systems. The Platinum-LEED building was named one of the “100 Recovery Act Projects Changing America” by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.

The Denver Housing Authority in partnership with Denver, RTD and community continues work on several other sustainable transit-oriented developments. Some of the TOD’s planned or underway on the West corridor line include Federal Decatur Station, Knox Station and West 44th Avenue.

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The party most surprised to learn that City Councilwoman Judy Montero harbors a soft spot for the Flobots might actually be the Flobots. According to the District 9 rep, they are her “very favorite band,” which explains why she referenced two of their songs — but, alas, did not sing either — at an event both sides supported yesterday. For years, Montero has pushed for the launch of sustainable, green and enconomically diverse public housing in her district, and she’s not the only one. Behind her, members of the Denver-based band grinned to Disney levels as the Denver Housing Authority broke ground on a project that their nonprofit, Flobots.org, shared in imagining.

All in all, there was a lot of sharing. “Together we rise,” Montero smiled, quoting the Flobots, which she did again shortly by proudly announcing, “We’re fighting with tools.” Fighting for higher standards of living and better access to transit: The Mariposa community, which celebrated its first day of ceremonial life yesterday afternoon, is the second phase in the DHA’s effort to revitalize the South Lincoln Homes that previously marked the area. Judging by the old buildings’ bricks, still full of long-dead insects when they were distributed as commemorative gifts, the replacement is a step up. But the numbers speak louder.

Phase one, the Tapiz Apartments completed this January, provide 100 units of public housing, all of which are already leased and are augmented by solar paneling and a grey water recycling system. With Mariposa, scheduled to open in 2013, the community will gain an additional 93 units. And on the first floor of its first building, it will gain a younger following. When the community opens next year, it will feature a Youth Media Studio brainstormed and designed by the band through its nonprofit outreach branch, Flobots.org.

In conjunction with the DHA and the Playing for Change Foundation, the new studio at 10th and Navajo will provide hands-on experience and technological resources for Denver youth in public schools and residential treatment centers in addition to area neighbors. Along with its studio features, the space also functions as a venue and classroom for music, design and poetry.

“I’m truly overwhelmed,” vocalist Stephen “Brer Rabbit” Brackett told us. “Out of all the things that have happened, even the DHA approaching us to be a part of this, the most surprising thing is that we’re still here, filling in these gaps between being a band and creating some effects. It’s what we talk about in our lyrics, being humble and hopeful and working in the hopes that something happens.

“Well, it’s happening.”

The studio’s $2.75 million price tag is partially funded by the DHA, which donated $800,000 in its initial stages. In the coming months, Flobots.org is continuing its search to close the gap on the final financing. For Brackett, who stresses he’s not an accountant, this has involved a lot of “unsexy stuff no one likes to talk about,” such as frequent meetings with his own accountant. “We have to be damn sure we deliver,” Brackett said. “That’s what makes Denver incredible: There are only ever a few degrees between you and what you need.”

The group’s push toward the next year of progress on the studio comes with immediate inspiration, such as the first official graduate of Flobots.org’s Youth On Record program. Earlier this year, the teen graduated both high school and the project, earned a full-ride to college and began a job working for the nonprofit, where Brackett regularly walks in on him in the production room. But if a band legacy appears to be progressing from stories like this one and the studio, Brackett won’t admit it.

“If we did have a legacy, we’d just hope it would be to serve as a model for Denver artists to interact with the Denver community,” he said. “We don’t even want our legacy to be ‘Flobots’” — he puts his band’s name in air quotes with his fingers. “If this is just how Denver bands start doing it, then hell, yeah.”

*photos from Westword photographer Britt Chester

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The second phase of redeveloping public housing in Denver’s Lincoln Park neighborhood kicks off with a groundbreaking and a little song.

Popular rock and hip hop band Flobots are behind the effort to build a $2.75 million dollar Youth Media Studio.

The local group founded a nonprofit called Flobots.org–and is now using that influence to help kids.

The $22 million public housing construction project is called “Mariposa Redevelopment.”

Denver Mayor Michael Hancock says it will no longer be known as “the projects.”

And thanks to some talented musicians with more than a gift for song–at-risk children will get an opportunity to reach for their dreams.

The lead vocals of Flobots take the stage Tuesday night. But not just to share their music.

They’re raising money for a dream they have for underprivileged kids.

“We are honored to be here. We’re going to be moving in,” says Stephen Brackett, aka Brer Rabbit, Flobots lead vocal.

They’ll move into “Flobots.org Youth Media Studio,” which right now is a pile of dirt, accompanied by construction workers and powered by a generator.

But next summer music and dreams will power it.

“We will be a part of a youth media studio that will be on the ground floor of this building. It is our sincere belief that culture is the part of the fabric that keeps young people alive and thriving and growing,” says Jamie Laurie, aka Jonny 5, Flobots lead vocal.

The 6,000 square foot studio will offer a recording studio, performance space and student work areas, with local artists coming into teach.

“If you’re a kid, they can teach the stuff you need to know to make music,” says Halvin Jones, 12, who lives in the Mariposa Redevelopment public housing.

Jones and his two brothers can’t wait for the doors of opportunity to open.

“I want to learn to play piano,” says his younger brother, Daihauonzader Brooks Jones, 10.

For their mother, Zakiyyah Brooks, it’s music to her ears.

“Instead of playing, just running around not doing anything, they can get homework help, go on computers, go to different websites, there’s art. They can paint,” she says.

The musicians say the studio will help kids in this particular neighborhood–as well as those at Denver Public Schools with low CSAP scores.

“The reason music and art are important in school, it’s been found if a kid has one genuine contact through the school day, they are 80% more likely to finish and graduate high school,” says Brackett.

“It’s not so much we think we need to generate a bunch of professional musicians, that’s amazing. But in a very concrete numbers-based way, the arts can enrich your educational experience and keep you there,” he says.

Flobots.org has partnered with the Denver Housing Authority which contributed $850,000 to the project.

So the Flobots need to come up with about $1.9 million.

OR LISTEN TO IT HERE:
Colorado Public Radio piece on the Youth Media Studio

In partnership with The Denver Housing Authority and the Playing For Change Foundation, Flobots.org will break ground on a Youth Media Studio (YMS) at 10th and Navajo streets in early April 2012. Opening to the public in fall 2013, the YMS will be an innovative, experiential resource for students in Denver Public Schools, youth in residential treatment centers, and members of West Denver’s La Alma/Lincoln Park community.

Outfitted with cutting-edge technology, the YMS will serve as a centralized location for digital arts-based programming for youth, and will connect local youth to students around the world in a state-of-the-art global classroom. The YMS will also serve as a field trip destination for students from across the Front Range and the state of Colorado, as well as a resource center for students who are at risk of not completing their high school education.

Partnerships are a key ingredient for success of the YMS, which is why Flobots.org joined forces with the Denver Housing Authority and the Playing For Change Foundation to build the 6,000 square foot facility. DHA contributed $850,000 in planning, design, construction and occupancy costs to get the $2.75 million project off the ground. The Playing for Change Foundation will collaborate on fundraising efforts, and will work with Flobots.org staff to create innovative programs that will connect international students with students throughout Colorado through music.

“The Playing For Change Foundation is excited and honored to develop our first US-based program in conjunction with Flobots.org and the Denver Housing Authority. Denver has always been a special place for our organization. We look forward to providing educational and enrichment opportunities to young people in the city, including unique cross-cultural learning experiences by connecting them with students in our music schools and programs in Africa and Asia,” says Whitney Kroenke, Executive Director, Playing For Change Foundation.
The Youth Media Studio will house an industry-standard recording studio, an indoor performance space, student board rooms, student work stations and administrative offices. The YMS will also have a street-facing courtyard, which will be available for outdoor performances. Students and community members will have easy access to the YMS, which is located just one block from the 10th and Osage light rail station.
Flobots.org has enlisted the help of local and national recording artists to design the recording studio. A request for qualifications for architect and design firms will be available in April 2012. Click here to read the Denver Post’s feature on the project.

“The Youth Media Studio will be a space that inspires young people from the moment they walk through our doors. We want every student in Colorado to know that they deserve access to cutting-edge technology, professional musicians, and adult mentors who are willing to meet them where they are,” says Jami Duffy, Executive Director, Flobots.org.

ABOUT FLOBOTS.ORG
Founded in 2007 by the internationally known Denver hip-hop collective Flobots, Flobots.org connects underserved youth across Colorado with music and empowerment education. Led by a network of professional musicians, artists and educators, Flobots.org programs are designed to harness the power of music and those who love it.
ABOUT PLAYING FOR CHANGE FOUNDATION:
A decade ago a small group of documentary filmmakers set out with a dream to create a film rooted in the music of the streets. Not only has that dream been realized, it has blossomed into a global sensation called Playing For Change, a project including musicians of every level of renown, that has touched the lives of millions of people around the world. From this, the Playing For Change Foundation was born and made its mission to ensure that anyone with the desire to receive a music education would have the opportunity to do so. The Playing For Change Foundation is dedicated to the fundamental idea that peace and change are possible through the universal language of music.