Sun Valley

Pricing trends

New for-sale homes in Sun Valley price among the lowest for new construction this close to downtown, with the mixed-income structure of the redevelopment keeping some units affordable by design. The Denver table below carries the citywide numbers.

Citywide figures for Denver. Source: Local Market Update, August 2026, REcolorado data compiled by the Colorado Association of REALTORS®. Neighborhood-level figures vary; ask me for comparables on any specific home. See all area tables.

About Sun Valley

Sun Valley is the small neighborhood between the South Platte and Federal Boulevard in the shadow of Empower Field, for decades the city's poorest neighborhood and the site of its largest public housing. The Denver Housing Authority is rebuilding it as a mixed-income neighborhood with new apartments, townhomes, a riverfront park and a grocery store, and the Broncos' plans for the land around the stadium will add more. It is one of the few places in Denver where a whole neighborhood is being built at once.

Location

Sun Valley runs from 6th Avenue north to the stadium and Colfax between Federal Boulevard and the South Platte, with Valverde to the south, Villa Park and West Colfax to the west across Federal, Auraria and downtown across the river and the stadium at its northern tip. The Decatur-Federal station on the W Line is inside the neighborhood; downtown is one stop away.

History and background

Sun Valley was river bottom and small farms until the railroads and the city's industry reached the west bank of the Platte in the late 1800s. Smelters, stockyards and warehouses lined the river, and the few houses between them belonged to the workers. Mile High Stadium, built in 1948 as Bears Stadium, took its northern end.

The Denver Housing Authority built the Sun Valley Homes public housing in the 1950s, and for the next sixty years the neighborhood was the city's poorest, cut off by the river, the highway and the stadium, with the fewest homeowners and the lowest incomes in Denver. The W Line's Decatur-Federal station, opened in 2013, was the first major public investment in decades.

A federal Choice Neighborhoods grant in 2016 funded the housing authority's plan to replace the old public housing with a mixed-income neighborhood, and the first new buildings, the riverfront park and a grocery followed in the early 2020s. The Broncos' purchase of land around the stadium set up the next phase of change.

Housing and architecture

The housing is almost entirely new or planned: the Denver Housing Authority's redevelopment is replacing the 1950s public housing with mixed-income apartments and townhomes, some for sale, and the first buildings opened in the early 2020s. A few older industrial parcels and cottages remain, and the stadium district's planned housing would add more to the north. For a buyer today, the for-sale townhomes in the redevelopment are the main option.

Parks and recreation

The Platte River Trail runs the neighborhood's eastern edge, and the new Sun Valley riverfront park opened on the former Xcel site with lawns, a playground and river access. Rude Park and its recreation center sit at the southern end, Empower Field hosts Broncos games and concerts, and Confluence Park is a short ride north.

Dining, shopping and daily life

The redevelopment includes a neighborhood grocery, a community hub and ground-floor shops, with the Decatur-Federal station and the stadium's restaurants at hand. Federal Boulevard's Vietnamese and Mexican restaurants are across the street, and the Santa Fe Arts District and Baker are a short ride south.