WHEAT RIDGE, Colo. — Thousands of drivers see the American Motel every single day off of I-70 in Wheat Ridge. But the longstanding motel is about to demolished to make way for new apartments.
"A lot of folks who are low income often turn to motels to be able to afford to live," said Cassie Ratliff with Family Tree, a program that offers resources to those struggling with homelessness and domestic violence.
She explained some families who can afford the daily or weekly rates at motels have a hard time leaving that situation because they don't have enough money for a deposit, first month and last month's rent that some apartment complexes require before move-in.
The City of Wheat Ridge helped fund and partnered with Family Tree to find new, permanent housing for the 18 families who had been living at the motel.
"There was a significant number of people who had been living in these motels for years. Five, six, 10, 15 years living in these motels," Ratliff said. "I think the need for housing and affordable housing in particular, has only grown over the years as the cost of living continues to go up and the cost of rents continue to go up, and what we're not seeing is wages going up."
A new study released by the National Low Income Housing Coalition shows that Colorado's minimum wage increases has not kept up with housing costs.
The study states that a minimum wage earner would need to work the equivalent of 2.1 full-time jobs to afford a modest one-bedroom apartment. The study reports that it would take 2.5 full-time jobs for a two-bedroom.
- Check out the study from the National Low Income Housing Coalition in the embed below:
The American Motel's owner sold to a developer, Trinsic Residential Group, which has filed plans to build a multi-family housing complex on the nearly five-acre lot. The City of Wheat Ridge said the project is likely to have market rate rents.
"I think that there's always a demand for market rate housing within the city. We want to see our residents be able to have options," said Amanda Harrison, the communications manager for the City of Wheat Ridge, adding that the project is private property that is appropriately zoned for the lot.
Denver7 reached out to Trinsic to see if any affordable units will be part of their final plan. Permits and construction are expected in 2026.
The project is what the city hopes is just the beginning of a new era on that corridor.
"We're just really excited to see the reinvestment in the I-70 and Kipling corridor. It's an area that may have felt neglected for the last several years," said Harrison.
The efforts to improve that area began back in 2021 when the city implemented a new hotel licensing ordinance which required hotel/motel owners to increase safety and crime prevention efforts.
Since then, city officials said, police calls for service at local hotels dropped by more than 50% and overall crime in the I-70 and Kipling corridor area decreased by 28.5%.
