Affordable housing is coming to one of Denver’s priciest neighborhoods.

Ashley Union Station, a four-story, 107-unit apartment complex under construction at 18th Street and Chestnut Place, will offer 75 income-restricted units just blocks from the revitalized train hall and transit center in Lower Downtown.

In a neighborhood best known for sky-high rents and luxury amenities, households earning up to 60 percent of area median income — anywhere from $33,600 for one person to $55,620 for six — will be eligible to move into Ashley’s affordable one- and two-bedroom units, with many units set aside for even lower income earners.

“That clerk at Safeway and (King) Soopers will be able to afford housing here. The server over at the Kitchen Next Door will be able to afford to live in this building. The person who drives the bus on the 16th Street Mall shuttle — that’s what this housing is about,” said Denver Councilwoman Robin Kniech. “It’s important to have mixed-income communities throughout our city.”

Denver officials gathered Thursday to celebrate the start of construction of the $30 million mixed-income community, which is being developed by Atlanta-based The Integral Group with public and private financing.

Among the public contributions are $2.3 million in financing from the city of Denver’s general fund, a $950,000 loan from the city’s affordable-housing preservation ordinance fund and $2.75 million from the Denver Housing Authority — the latter specifically to support the land purchase. DHA also is providing a 70-year ground lease to Integral.

A total of 34 apartments will available to households making no more than 60 percent of area median income.

Households making up to 50 percent of median income will be eligible for another 34 units, with an additional seven apartments set aside for those making 30 percent or less. The remaining apartments will be rented at market rate.

Amenities will include a rooftop terrace, bike repair station, ground-level retail and partially covered parking, said Vicki Lundy Wilbon, Integral’s president of community development.

Integral has worked in Denver before, in the 1990s, building the city’s first-ever mixed-income community, Villages at Curtis Park.

The Atlanta firm is also developing Eviva Cherokee, a market-rate luxury apartment tower under construction in Denver’s Golden Triangle neighborhood.

Designed by Denver’s RNL, Ashley Union Station is expected to be completed in early 2017.

The income-restricted units will be required to remain affordable for 60 years, according to the Denver Office of Economic Development.

“There were many people as we started this process who said bringing affordable housing down into the Union Station area could not be done,” Mayor Michael Hancock said. “We are here to prove them wrong.”

Emilie Rusch: 303-954-2457, erusch@denverpost.com or @emilierusch