DAHLIA SQUARE
United States
Environmental Protection
Agency
EPA 560-S-11-002
December 2011
Denver, CO
Cleanup Grant
EPA Cleanup Grant Helps to Leverage Funding for
Property Cleanup and Redevelopment
ADDRESS: 4820-4900 35th Avenue, Denver, CO 80207
PROPERTY SIZE: 7.8 acres
FORMER USES: Brickyard, shopping center
CURRENT USE: Family medical clinic, affordable housing
EPA GRANT RECIPIENT:
Parkhill Community, Inc.
received a $200,000 EPA
Brownfields Cleanup grant in
2005 and $78,000 in Targeted
Brownfields Assessment funding
PROJECT PARTNERS:
Denver Urban Renewal Authority,
City and County of Denver, Parkhill
Community, Denver Health, U.S.
Department of Housing and Urban
Development, Northeast Park Hill
Coalition, private developers
The redeveloped Dahlia Square Senior Apartment complex.
PROJECT BACKGROUND:
The Dahlia Square Shopping Center was built in the early 1950s on the site of the former Ferry Brickyard. The shopping center
quickly became a focal point for local business and commerce, functioning as a community hub. Over the decades, the once
vibrant shopping center—at one point the largest African American owned shopping center in the United States—slowly began to
deteriorate as the shopping habits of local citizens shifted. By the 1990s, Dahlia Square was less than 15 percent occupied and had
fallen into disrepair. The Denver Urban Renewal Authority (DURA) and the City of Denver created the Northeast Park Hill Urban
Renewal area in 2001 to help redevelop and reinvigorate this area. During assessment of the property's redevelopment potential,
significant soil contamination was found that needed to be addressed.
KEY ACCOMPLISHMENTS:
• Property cleanup resulted in the removal of tens of thousands of cubic yards of organic material and four USTs.
• A total of over $ 19 million has been leveraged for cleanup and redevelopment from public and private sources.
• Redevelopment has resulted in the opening of the Park Hill Family Medical Clinic and the phased development of a 128-unit
affordable housing complex for seniors.
• The Dahlia Square Senior Apartment complex will adhere to Enterprise Green Community standards.
OUTCOME:
Parkhill Community, Inc. received a $200,000 Brownfields Cleanup grant from EPA in 2005 to address the contamination found
at the Dahlia Square property. In 2005, EPA also used $78,000 in Targeted Brownfields Assessment funding to complete a Phase
II Environmental Assessment of the site. This grant was part of a wide array of funding sources used for property remediation,
including other grants and loans from federal and local sources, which totaled more than $7 million. Remediation of the property's
soil resulted in the excavation of 40,000 cubic yards of landfill materials in abandoned mine pits left from its previous use as a
brickyard. This material was disposed of at a local landfill. Additionally, three 3,000-4,000 gallon underground storage tanks (USTs)
and one 500-gallon waste oil UST were removed from the property.
Cleanup was completed in June 2006, paving the way for redevelopment. A private developer purchased the property, and in
2009 opened the new, 12,000 square-foot Park Hill Family Medical Clinic. The developer also had plans to build more than 100
new housing units, but had to put these plans on hold due to the slow housing market. However, a second developer agreed to
build a 128-unit affordable housing complex for seniors, adhering to Enterprise Green Community standards implemented by the
Colorado Housing and Finance Authority (CHFA). This development has been awarded a 9 percent tax credit by the CHFA and
has resulted in an additional private investment of over $12 million. With the grand opening of the Dahlia Square Senior Apartment
complex in October 201 I, the developer will continue phased construction in 2012-13 while providing immediate housing.
FOR MORE INFORMATION: Visit the EPA Brownfields Web site at www.epa.gov/brownfields or call EPA Region 8 at (303) 312-6803
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