Purpose Built Communities Visits Denver, Tour Clayton Early Learning Center
Last week ULC hosted a tour and round table discussion with Purpose Built Communities at the Clayton Early Learning Center. Purpose Built is an Atlanta-based nonprofit consulting firm that partners with communities across the U.S. to strengthen and revitalize neighborhoods. Today, they have 18 projects in 17 different cities, all with tremendous success rates. While visiting Denver, they spent time touring the Clayton campus in Northeast Park Hill. The Clayton Trust, which owns the early learning campus and the the Park Hill Golf Course, announced their plans to sell the course to the city of Denver in 2018.
ULC coordinated the tour and round table discussion centered around the future use of the Park Hill Golf Course, as Purpose Built successfully completed an equitable new development in Atlanta. Known as the “blueprint” for Purpose Built, the East Lake Foundation was founded on the grounds of an old golf course in 1995, and is a true success story. Today, over 1,500 residents live in 542 mixed-income apartments. This year marked the first graduating class of the Charles R. Drew Charter School, which was founded in 2000 with the cradle-to-college education pipeline. With their first round of graduates, the school saw a 100% graduation rate and has been continuously ranked among the top 10 schools in its district for the past seven years.
With the City of Denver preparing to purchase the Park Hill Golf Course, located in an area lacking fresh food, affordable housing and community facilities, it is important to consider equitable development options including a minimum of 50% permanently affordable housing options as well as nonprofit facility space to support the residents of Northeast Denver. The Clayton Trust has been engaging the community regarding future use of the golf course, and will inform the City of the neighborhood’s desires on what could and should be developed.
Thank you again to the Clayton Trust and Early Learning Center for hosting the event, and to Purpose Built Communities for leading the thoughtful discussion around opportunities for equitable development. We are hopeful that the City and local stakeholders can come together to make a decision that will truly benefit the Northeast Denver community for years to come!