Committee advances partial covenant release for CAPA Tower 3; residents and councilmembers press managers over online rent system

Aug. 5 — The Denver Community Planning and Housing Committee on Tuesday voted to send to the full City Council a request to partially release the affordability covenant on CAPA Tower 2 so a proposed CAPA Tower 3 senior housing project can move forward, while members pressed property managers about a recent switch to an online rent portal that tenants say has caused payment difficulties.

The request before the committee would allow the developer and the city to place a new covenant on the vacant portion of the CAPA Tower 2 lot and fund the separate CAPA Tower 3 project. Autumn Bueller, an asset manager in the Housing Stability Department, told the committee CAPA Tower 2 is at 9020 East Northfield Boulevard in Central Park and was funded with $700,000 from the city—s affordable housing permanent funds closed in July 2020. Bueller said CAPA Tower 2 contains 70 units and that the original loan includes a covenant period of not less than 60 years.

"We were looking to come to city council for release on so that we could develop that into what is being called CAPA Tower 3 for additional senior housing," Bueller said. She said the city plans to fund CAPA Tower 3 with $1,050,000 from the linkage fee fund and that the city—s request to the committee was to allow a partial release of the existing covenant so a new covenant can be placed on CAPA Tower 3.

Bueller described CAPA Tower 3 as 30 additional senior housing units and provided the AMI breakdown she said the project will include: "12 at 50% AMI, 9 at 40, and another 9 at 30% with another, 60 years added." The covenant changes and the proposed linkage fee allocation will be considered by the full City Council, Bueller said.

Councilmember Chantal Lewis, whose District 8 includes the property, said she and residents have followed the project closely and asked staff and the management team to describe operations and tenant engagement. Maureen Morley, director of asset management and compliance in the Housing Stability Department, said CAPA Tower 2 leased up quickly and has stabilized occupancy. She credited management and resident council communication for helping address safety and maintenance concerns.

Property management representatives joined the meeting. Adrian Leija, introduced as vice president of operations for Cilla Management, said management attends resident council meetings and tries to address issues flagged by tenants. "We attend every, at at work or trying to attend every resident council meeting, but we do take what they say to heart," Leija said.

Councilmember Lewis and tenants had raised a separate issue about a switch to a new property management software. Leija said the company switched to a new software platform on July 1 that emphasizes online payments. "We did do a switch over from our software company. Our previous software company did offer the portal, but we also were able to accept, checks and money orders. We shifted to a brand new 1, started July 1. That 1 is a little bit more online," he said. Leija said the change was made in part to reduce incidents of stolen checks and money orders and to improve perceived convenience, but acknowledged the shift created barriers for some seniors.

Leija said alternatives are available while staff work to resolve the transition: managers will help residents access the portal by phone or at an on-site computer, e-money orders (available at retailers such as 7-Eleven or Walgreens) can be used to post payments to the portal, and management has ordered scanners and plans to provide computers or tablets for resident use. Leija said the scanners have been ordered but that the new software currently requires IT integration: "we ordered them, so it should be here anytime... the software that we, moved to does not support scanners so much... we told everybody till September 1 was our drop dead date where everything would be flowing well. I'm not saying perfect, but well." Larry Williams, chairman of the board of Capital Housing, said the property has a computer lab that tenants can use and that the on-site service coordinator sometimes provides one-on-one help.

Councilmembers pressed for concrete, timebound steps. Lewis said she wanted a schedule for training and asked how often classes would be offered; management responded they are seeking providers, that managers and service coordinators have helped tenants individually, and that they plan to make devices available on site. The management team said they are "looking into integrating" scanning capability and that they expect the interim transition period to stabilize by Sept. 1.

Management also addressed fees tied to the transition. Committee members asked whether tenants had been charged late fees because of the change. Leija said the management group had waived late fees related to the July software switchover: "All late fees have been waived at this time." He added that older late fees (for example, prior months such as January or February) were not automatically removed.

The committee took a single formal step: Councilmember Jamie Torres moved and Councilmember Diana Romero Campbell seconded a motion to send the item to the full City Council for consideration. Committee members indicated support by voice/thumbs-up and the item was advanced to the floor for a council public hearing and final action.

Discussion vs. decision: the committee—s action was procedural—to forward the covenant release request and related funding approval to the full City Council; no final covenant release, fund transfer, or zoning change was approved at Tuesday—s committee meeting. Management described operational steps it plans to take during the software transition; those were described as ongoing steps rather than formal, binding directions from the committee.

What to watch: the full City Council will consider the linkage-fee allocation and any partial release of the CAPA Tower 2 covenant as part of a future floor agenda; management told the committee it aims to have the payment transition "flowing well" by Sept. 1 and that it will continue to assist tenants and work with resident council representatives.

Sources: meeting presentation and question-and-answer exchange at the Aug. 5 Community Planning and Housing Committee meeting; all direct quotes are attributed to speakers who appeared in the committee record.