CREJ

/ BUILDING DIALOGUE / MARCH 2017

We are building

COLORADO

www.swinerton.com/blog/colorado Developing a World-class City that Endures

enver sits at a crossroads of opportunity,

and its future depends on the decisions

that are made by its people, its elected

officials, and its real estate and development

communities. Much has been promised about

making our city a world-class city, but it should

also be our hope that we can make it an endur-

ing city.

Development is important to the growth of our

city and its residents, but it does not have to come

at the expense of poor design, improper zoning,

loss of urban design or the loss of important histor-

ic structures that bring increased value to our city

and society alike.

To the contrary, our city should be creating inter-

mediary zones that allow for sensible transitions of

building forms, bolstering our core residential com-

munities, and we should create mixed-use high-

er-density development in areas where it makes

the most sense to support the expansion of stable

communities. And when it comes to the preserva-

tion of truly historic structures, they should be used

to maintain the city’s identity and our history by

incorporating them into modern Denver develop-

ments.

Not every development company or individu-

al sees things in a holistic or altruistic way, and at

times it is necessary to protect our collective invest-

ment by challenging operators with regard only for

themselves.

To this point, recently, a few self-interested de-

velopers capitalizing on our white-hot market

have raised concerns around our landmark ordi-

nance that thoughtfully and with strong deference

to property owners allows individuals to act when

demolition requests are made for merited struc-

tures in Denver.

What the cynical messaging of the media cam-

paigns fails to disclose is that the developers fi-

nancing the public relations effort are compel-

ling empathic property owners to act as puppets

through conditional contracts. The result is genius

in its malevolence. City Council is positioned to de-

cide whether to protect a property with compelling

history or a property owner with sympathetic sto-

ry, without knowing that that the real beneficiary

of the demolition rights is a development firm too

cowardly to make the case as a property owner itself,

and too manipulative to pay the owner for the value

added once the demo rights are secured.

When these tactics are used, the issue it is fur-

ther exacerbated by questionable conduct between

developer and broker/listing agent, who have been

placing priority on the developer’s offer by requiring

Rafael

Espinoza

Denver

Councilman

Colorado Pulse