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Ten early-career Denver classroom teachers will get free rent for a year in a new upscale apartment building in the northwest part of the city — a novel, if incremental, approach to the problem of rising housing costs making it difficult for teachers to live close to where they work.

Real estate investment firm Grand Peaks, whose founders attended Denver Public Schools, are donating 10 apartments in the 533-unit Skyline at Highlands development in the Jefferson Park neighborhood. The teachers will be able to live there rent-free from August through next July.

Sara Hazel, the president and CEO of the Denver Public Schools Foundation, said the foundation chose the 10 teachers in a random drawing from among about 215 who applied. Only classroom teachers with zero to three years of experience were eligible.

“I got to have my Oprah moment sending emails to these 10 winners and sharing the wonderful news,” Hazel said. “The response we’ve gotten — the quotes are, ‘This is life changing for my family.’ ‘You have no idea how much this means to me.’”

Marc Swerdlow, president of Grand Peaks, said the company’s founders, the Simpson family, wanted to do something for Denver teachers after reading news about pay disparities and the struggle to find affordable housing. The average apartment rent in the gentrifying city was $1,875 a month in the first quarter of this year, the Denver Post reported.

“This property is not an affordable-housing project, but something we could do to provide affordable housing to teachers seemed so easy, so natural,” Swerdlow said.

The hope is that increasing access to affordable housing will incentivize early-career teachers to stay in Denver and in the teaching profession, Hazel said.

“Affordable housing is one of the barriers our Denver teachers are facing — and Denver teachers living in the Denver community is good for Denver and good for our students,” she said. “We hope other companies look at this and are like, ‘Wow, how do we replicate this?’”

Five of the apartments are studios that would otherwise rent for between $1,725 and $1,900 a month. The other five are one-bedrooms that would rent for between $2,300 and $2,450 a month. The salary for first-year Denver teachers this past year was $54,141.

DPS leaders have floated the idea of providing teacher housing several times in recent years, but no projects have come to fruition. In 2018, the district scrapped the idea of converting a then-empty elementary school into rental apartments for educators after neighbors pushed back. The district leased the building, the former Rosedale Elementary, to the Archdiocese of Denver instead. It now houses Saint John Paul the Great Catholic High School.

Melanie Asmar is the bureau chief for Chalkbeat Colorado. Contact Melanie at masmar@chalkbeat.org.

Denver 7+ Colorado News Latest Headlines | July 2, 7am

USA. Local specialty coffee roaster Novo Coffee has unveiled its second location at Denver International Airport in partnership with the AVE Group.

Located at Concourse B, the new coffee kiosk features Novo Coffee’s full coffee menu, including fresh baked goods and other takeaway items.

Popular local artist Pat Milberry was commissioned to design the coffee kiosk, as he did for the Concourse A location.

Novo Coffee is driven by its commitment to sustainability in producing its coffee and holds a Certifiably Green Denver certification.

Its partnership with the AVE Group started in October 2022, resulting in the first travel retail location at Denver International Airport. The opening formed part of the airport’s Small Business Enterprise Concessions programme – the first in its history. The programme was designed to level the playing field for small businesses which intend to participate in contract opportunities at the Colorado gateway.

The AVE Group was founded by experienced travel retail executive Kathleen Schafer to bring Novo Coffee to the airport.

For more than a decade, Schafer has seen her career grow at Denver-based concessionaire Mission Yogurt to become Vice President, establishing her own concessions company in 2015 while awaiting the right opportunity.

It came to fruition with this programme and partnership, and now the AVE Group closely collaborates with Novo Coffee to manage the daily operations of the two stores.

Schafer said: “We’re proud to again partner with such a relationship-based brand as Novo Coffee, and to continue bringing its high-quality products to travellers at the airport.

“We’re very grateful to Denver International Airport and the Small Business Enterprise Concessions committee for supporting small Denver-based businesses.”

Novo Coffee Co-founder and President Jake Brodsky added: “Novo Coffee is thrilled to bring more local, quality flavours to Denver International Airport.

“We’ve been working hard to sustainably grow and improve our small company since day one. We’re excited to share our coffees with even more guests travelling to and through our hometown.”

Denver International Airport CEO Phil Washington commented: “We’re thrilled to welcome Novo Coffee into a second location at DEN. We know our passengers already value the great products and service that Novo offers and will appreciate having an additional location at the airport to visit.

“I am also pleased to report that the AVE Group, LLC., Novo’s operational partner, is a Small Business Enterprise Concession Operator and woman-owned and operated business, a value that’s deeply embedded within our Concessions programme.

“We know that as DEN continues to provide opportunities for more businesses to share in the airport’s success, we all contribute to the economic health of our region.” ✈

Former Denver Nuggets point guard Collin Gillespie has agreed to sign with the Phoenix Suns on a two-way contract, ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski reported Monday.

He is the second two-way player who has agreed to sign with the Suns. Phoenix signed rookie wing Jalen Bridges out of Baylor immediately following the NBA Draft.

Gillespie posted “new beginnings” on social media following the report.

NBA teams are allowed to max out at three two-way players.

Gillespie, 25, played in 24 games for the Nuggets last season, averaging 3.6 points, 1.1 assists and 0.6 steals in 9.4 minutes per game.

The 6-foot-1, 195-pound guard shot 46.4% and 39.5% from three.

Gillespie played five years at Villanova, finishing school in 2021-22 by averaging 15.6 points and 3.2 assists per game.

He signed with Denver and was a member of their title team despite missing the season due to a leg fracture.

He brings value as a depth option at point guard, which Phoenix has yet to address in the draft or the first few days of free agency.

The Suns were without a traditional point guard last season. Devin Booker and Bradley Beal served as the Suns’ floor generals more times than not, while starter Grayson Allen was often left to defend the opposing point guards.

NBA veteran Isaiah Thomas was brought in late for a seven-game run that included a playoff appearance, though he only averaged four minutes per game and didn’t break into the rotation. Two-way guard Saben Lee occasionally played a role off the bench, though not a consistent one.

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