Three Denver hotels that were repurposed into homeless shelters are transitioning to new management and a fourth is closing, signs that the city’s plan to end tent homelessness is in flux.
Denver’s Department of Housing Stability is using four former hotels — down by about half from the height of the city’s hotel-shelter program — that house people who were living on the streets or in nightly shelters and, ideally, are headed toward permanent housing. Those are:
- A former Best Western, also near Interstate 70 and Quebec, now called the Stone Creek Shelter. The shelter has been run by the Salvation Army for $4.2 million per year. St. Francis Center will take over Jan. 1 for $6.5 million, a proposed contract that includes security services. The contract is pending City Council approval.
- A former DoubleTree on Quebec Street now called The Aspen Shelter. The shelter, just south of Interstate 70, has been operated by the Salvation Army under a $7 million contract. Beginning in January, and pending City Council approval, Urban Alchemy, a national organization that began in California, will take over management. The proposed contract amount is $9.89 million. The new contract will include security services.
- A former Embassy Suites on Hampden Avenue in southeastern Denver now known as the Tamarac Family Shelter. The Salvation Army provides services under a $9.78 million contract. Bayaud Works, a nonprofit focused on housing and job opportunities, will take over Jan. 1, pending City Council approval and a new contract yet to be determined. The council is scheduled to discuss the contract next week.
- The Comfort Inn Shelter, also by I-70 and Quebec. St. Francis Center has provided services at the shelter through a $3.1 million contract, but the shelter is closing in March.
The hotel shelters are part of Denver Mayor Mike Johnston’s “All in Mile High” initiative to move people off the streets and into temporary and permanent housing. Since July 2023, the city has counted 7,500 people moved to shelter and 6,200 moved to housing, according to the city’s dashboard. As the city decreases its use of hotel shelters, more emphasis is going toward drug treatment and permanent housing, officials said.
St. Francis Center announced its new contract to operate the Stone Creek Shelter last week, saying that it was “deepening” its role with Denver’s hotel shelter system as part of its “long-standing commitment to supporting individuals on their journey from homelessness to housing.”
The changes in management come after the Salvation Army said in August that it would no longer provide services at The Aspen, Stone Creek and Tamarac shelters. The organization cited financial sustainability as the reason for ending its contracts with the city, saying it had “shouldered more than $5.2 million in shelter operating costs” last year.
The Salvation Army and the city faced community backlash over security at hotel shelters, especially The Aspen. The shelter, which has about 300 rooms, was the site of a double homicide in March 2024 and, last March, had an employee arrested and accused of sexually assaulting a resident.
The Salvation Army continues to operate four other shelters in Denver, including the Crossroads Center, an emergency shelter for 250 men, and the Lambuth Family Center, a short-term option for people with children.
St. Francis Center will provide 24-hour shelter at Stone Creek, as well as health care, mental health support, substance abuse treatment and help finding permanent housing, CEO Nancy Burke said. Meanwhile, as the Comfort Inn shelter closes, St. Francis and the city’s Housing Stability department will help those residents find shelter or housing so they do not return to the streets, she said.
St. Francis Center, a nonprofit with roots in the Episcopal Church, helped 366 people move into housing in 2024, the organization said.
Since July 2023, about 50% of people who left shelters in Denver went to stable housing. About 30% had what the city calls “negative exits,” which include returning to homelessness or going to jail, according to the city’s data. There was no available data for the rest.
An annual count of people who are homeless tallied 6,539 people who were living in shelters, transitional housing and on the streets of Denver in 2024.
The evolving hotel shelter program shows that it “takes a community response to resolve homelessness,” said Derek Woodbury, spokesperson for the city’s Department of Housing Stability. “We’re working diligently with all partners to ensure not only a seamless transition with no interruption in services, but improved outcomes for people in need,” he said.