$197 million Mariposa District transforms public housing from “projects” to community
The Tapiz at Mariposa apartment project , part of Denver Housing Authority ’s Mariposa District redevelopment project in the Alma Lincoln Park neighborhood . (Kevin J. Beaty/Denverite) People who are now happy to call the Mariposa District home would have tried to avoid the area in the not so distant past. “The projects came in here in 1952,” said Bob Cordova, a resident at the Tapiz at Mariposa. “This was the meanest goddamn area of Denver growing up, and it only got worse.” Cordova said he moved to the 100-unit Tapiz apartment building not long after the eight- story senior housing project was completed in 2011. “It feels safe in the area now,” Cordova said. The Tapiz was the first of eight redevelopment phases that Denver Housing Authority undertook to demolish and replace its 250- unit South Lincoln Park Homes . Several residents refer to the former complex as “the projects.” South Lincoln Homes complex along Navajo Street before they were demolished for the Mariposa Distr...