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Denver, CO

Denver Issues $21 million Permit on the Sloan's Lake Parcel Set for 158 Affordable Apartments

Denver, Colorado issued a $21 million "phased construction" permit on Nov. 5 at 3701 W. 16th Ave., the parcel where Zocalo and the NHP Foundation plan Liora, 158 affordable apartments in the 461-unit redevelopment of a Sloan's Lake hospital parking lot.

By Morningline Research · November 12, 2026

Denver, Colorado has issued a building permit with a reported value of $21.0 million at 3701 W. 16th Ave., a block off the southeast corner of Sloan's Lake Park. That's the address of Liora at Sloan's Lake, a four-story building with 158 apartments for households earning 30% to 60% of the area median income, according to Naked Denver.

The permit came through Nov. 5. It's the first dollar figure we've seen on the apartments themselves. Until now, the public reporting on this block had been about a parking garage.

A one-line permit, a $21 million value

Timeline of 3701 W. 16th Ave. in Denver, from the first plans in 2018 to the November 2026 building permit
Graphic: Morningline Research, from City of Denver permit records and the reporting linked in this story.

The permit's own wording is short. It's filed as "phased construction," with a reported value of $20,994,751, and it doesn't name the project. Two weeks earlier, on Oct. 22, the city issued a smaller permit at the same address for a new commercial building, reported at $824,396. Both are values filed with the city, not contract amounts.

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The match comes from the land records in the news. In September 2025 the NHP Foundation closed on a 0.9-acre parcel at 3701 16th Avenue, with Denver's Zocalo Community Development as managing partner, Mile High CRE reported. The plan for that parcel is Liora.

Zocalo CEO David Zucker has been talking about building on this block since 2018, BusinessDen reported in 2024. Condos were part of the early thinking. They came off the table, and rentals took their place.

A hospital parking lot becomes 461 homes

The entrance of Sloans Lake Medical Center in Denver, with its name over the drive-up canopy, in 2012
The entrance of Sloans Lake Medical Center in Denver in 2012. Photo: Xnatedawgx, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons (cropped).

The land between 16th and 17th avenues along Newton Street has long been surface parking for Sloans Lake Medical Center next door. In October 2025 crews started on a new parking garage there, with the homes to follow. In all, the block is planned for 461 units, "nearly all rentals and more than a third of them income-restricted," according to BusinessDen. Zucker called the deal "a truly complicated choreography of financing."

Liora is the affordable piece. Next to it, Zocalo plans Aliyah, a 16-story tower with 294 homes and ground-floor retail, Naked Denver reported. Fifteen of those units are set aside for Denver Public Schools educators.

The full plan runs in five phases, according to Mile High CRE: a 330-space garage, Liora, the Aliyah tower, a reopened Meade Street corridor for walking and biking, and nine for-sale townhomes built into the garage. The townhomes are deed-restricted for 99 years. Seven three-bedroom apartments are reserved for Denver Public Schools families who've been without stable housing.

John Lucero, principal of Lucero Development Services, one of the partners, called it "the most complex, but most rewarding project in my 40-year career."

How the $60 million gets paid

Mile High CRE put Liora's total development cost at $60 million. That's a different measure from the permit. The $21.0 million is the value reported to the city, while the $60 million covers the whole development.

The money comes from a long list of sources:

"Liora at Sloan's Lake is a model of what we can achieve," Maria De Cambra, executive director of the Colorado Department of Local Affairs, said, according to Mile High CRE. The building will be all-electric and is designed to Enterprise Green Communities Plus standards.

That 4% bond structure got some national attention last week. On Nov. 2 HUD opened an "express lane" for FHA-insured construction loans on tax-credit apartments, including 4% bond deals, Construction Dive reported. It drops the 200-unit size limit and sets a 30-day timeline for a firm commitment decision.

Back at Sloan's Lake, the garage comes first, then Liora and the tower. No completion date for the apartments has been announced.

How we count

The permits come from the City of Denver's building permit records for 3701 W. 16th Ave., issued Oct. 22 and Nov. 5, 2026. Values are the ones reported on the permits. The project name, the companies behind it and the financing come from the reporting linked here.

See Denver's latest permit numbers, updated weekly.

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Sources

More from Morningline Research

More numbers: Denver, CO building permit activity, updated weekly.