Demolition ‘imminent’ for condo building at center of 2020 landmark fight

Four-and-a-half years after neighbors withdrew an effort to preserve a small condominium building off Speer Boulevard in Denver the vacant structure s days are numbered Fencing has gone up around the Carmen Court building at E st Ave and a banner touts the services of American Demolition I can confirm that demolition is imminent announced Marisa Monte a spokeswoman for Hines the Houston-based advancement firm that owns the property The adobe-style building was the subject of a preservation fight in That spring with Hines under contract to purchase the property the company applied to Denver for a certificate of demolition eligibility a designation that would make it easy to demolish the structure in the near future In response certain neighbors solicited the city to instead name the structure a city landmark a status that effectively prevents demolition The individual owners of Carmen Court s six units meanwhile opposed landmark status and felt caught in purgatory unsure whether their deals to sell to Hines would in fact close That October feeling unsure if their landmark application had the necessary backing from the Denver City Council the neighbors withdrew it Hines purchased the property in December paying million for each of the units and another million for additional homes to the south In the years since Carmen Court has sat unoccupied and become overgrown When the neighbors withdrew the application they explained Hines had agreed to not demolish the structure until the company is ready to begin constructing its new project a five-story senior living facility The thought was that arrangement would avoid a situation in which Hines demolished Carmen Court but ended up not building the senior living complex And it left open the possibility that someone else might step in to buy the structure and keep its current use Every day a building stands is another day that it stands Sarah McCarthy a leader of Friends of Carmen Court recounted BusinessDen in October City records indicate a demolition permit for Carmen Court was approved in January Related Articles Big Brothers Big Sisters of Colorado moves into Denver s Tamarac Plaza Wheat Ridge apartment region sells for million Boulder s the greater part expensive home sells for million CoorsTek starts work on new headquarters in first phase of mixed-use project New -unit multifamily project completed in Denver Highlands Hines does appear to be operating under something of a deadline When the landmark application was withdrawn in Hines did get the certificate of demolition eligibility certificate it had been originally seeking The certificate is good for five years and expires this October After that demolition of the structure would still be achievable but the approval process would be more burdensome Hines advance portfolio in Denver includes the -story office tower at th St Read more at our partner BusinessDen