■ Developer still owns fenced, vacant property, says construction should start by the end of the year
BY RORY SEEBER
A year ago City Council unanimously approved a
re-zoning of 1472 and 1480 Madison on the southeast corner of Colfax & Madison from R-3/B-4 to MS-2. The site is supposed to be home to the first mixed-use development under Main Street 2 zoning.
The re-zoning was approved despite strong opposition from Congress Park Neighbors (CPN), the South City Park Neighbors Association, and residents of the adjacent Snell Historic District.
Today, the structures are gone and the vacant property is fenced.
“I put you on notice that your reputation is on the line. You have to do a premier project,” District 10 City Councilwoman Jeanne Robb had told developer Len Goldberg, managing partner of Mile High Construction & Development, when the re-zoning was approved.
Goldberg’s proposal calls for a $10 million mixed-use building with 39 residential units, 48 underground parking spaces, primarily on Madison, and 4,300 square feet of retail space on the street level facing Colfax, with four stories of residences above.
The project is titled “BluePrint,” in reference to the Colfax Small
Area Plan, dubbed “Blueprint East Colfax,” which led to creation of the
Main Street zones.
Originally Goldberg had planned to raze 1456 Madison as well, a
single-family residence and the third building in from Colfax, along
with the first two buildings south of Colfax. However, a rapidly
rallying force of neighbors saved the structure.
Mel Patrick, a CPN board member and a Snell resident, wonders if
Goldberg is still in control of the property, which he characterized as
a “failed development.”
“I do know that the temporary chainlink fence protecting the
construction site (at one time this summer) had some small notices
attached saying that if the rent on the fence wasn’t paid, the fence
rental company would remove the fence in 30 days,” Patrick told LIFE.
“Evidently, the fence rent was never paid (because) the company did
retrieve the fence. Neighborhood Inspection Services (NIS) then saw the
construction site unprotected, called whomever, and three days later
the existing fencing material was installed.”
The Denver Assessor’s Office lists Goldberg’s Mile High Construction as the property’s owner.
PHOTO BY JEFF HERSCH
REHABILITATION OF THE ARGONAUT APARTMENTS... originally a hotel built in the 1890s... at Colfax & Logan recently revealed the original signage over the front door. For years the building’s ground floor had been covered by a mossy green facade. California-based Downtown Denver Housing Partners is completely remodeling the structure, which will continued to be used for subsidized housing.
Dave Walstrom, executive director of Colfax on the Hill and one of
many stakeholders who helped to create the Main Street zones, said,
“Last I knew Len Goldberg would entertain offers to buy him out, but
his asking price was prohibitive.”
There are rumors that Goldberg, who also completed Washington
Square at 1255-63 Washington in 2005, has gone or is going bankrupt.
After completing the similar Franklin Square project at 17th &
Franklin last year, he has apparently sold his interest in another
residential development at that site, proposed as a five-plex. That
bulldozed lot has also been fenced for months.
“From Goldberg’s own statements, he said he had $1 million into the
Madison site,” Patrick related. “I’ve jokingly told Jeanne Robb...that
Goldberg should have the property re-zoned ‘agricultural,’ since the
weeds were so high.
“Quite honestly, at this point, we in the neighborhood don’t know
what to wish for. A large vacant site is no asset to the residents, but
who knows now what will be built there?”
Goldberg did not respond to LIFE’s requests for comment.
Marcus Pachner of The Pachner Company, a public relations firm, had
acted as Goldberg’s liaison to the neighborhood during the re-zoning
process. He was able to contact the developer.
Pachner told LIFE by email that Goldberg had approved the following statement concerning the development:
“The long-anticipated project at Colfax and Madison will begin
construction by the end of the year. There have been substantial delays
in financing the project based on market conditions. The project will
offer ground-level retail with residential units above, embracing the
form and feel of a great Main Street development. The developer looks
forward to working with the community and the neighborhood to provide a
project that all of the Colfax corridor will embrace.”
Greg Savage, a case manager with the Community Development &
Planning Agency, told LIFE that the NIS regulations say that it is not
unlawful to own vacant property, though it is “unacceptable” not to
maintain such property. It must be kept free of trash and debris and
“unattended vegetation.” Open pits or dangerous vacant structures are
also not allowed.
| Comments |
|