A boarded up Denver city landmark in the Baker neighborhood is generating a lot of attention from potential buyers gearing up for its sale at bankruptcy auction on Thursday.
The building at 101 Broadway, once home to El Diablo and Sketch restaurants, is plastered with notice that it will be sold after after being shuttered for more than two years.
“I’ve shown it a ton,” listing agent Jim Macguire said, noting that investors seem hungry for real estate on a prime Denver corner. “I would bet that this is going to go for way over $4 million.”
Bankruptcy trustee Tom Connolly said there are at least three competing bidders who all have their own vision for the future of the property.
One has plans for office and retail space, another is considering a high-end hotel and a third is interested in creating retail space and condominiums, Connolly said.
“The prospects of doing something positive for the community in the near future are great,” Connolly said.
The neighborhood is anxiously awaiting to see what the high-traffic corner — across from bustling spots like Punch Bowl Social and the Mayan Theatre — will become.
Baker and Broadway Merchants Association president Martin Lavine said he is thrilled that the First and Broadway Building, landmarked since 1986, might soon be filled.
“It’s an eyesore on such a pretty corner,” he said.
Lavine said merchants are talking about what they’d like to see go into the building, but their ideas are tempered by worries about the lack of parking in the area.
“Nobody wants anymore restaurants,” he said. “People would like to see more retail, clothing or basically anything but bars and restaurants due to the inundation of cars they bring.”
Baker Historic Neighborhood Association president Luchia Brown
agreed that parking is on the minds of most Baker residents.
“It would be nice if there was daytime use like daytime retail or daytime office space,” Brown said. “Something that doesn’t put more pressure on the neighborhood as far as the evening is concerned.”
Neighbors are also concerned about recent gentrification in the area, Brown said.
“There was talk of making it affordable housing,” Brown said. “The neighborhood has always been supportive of the less privileged in our society.”
The building has been vacant since April 2013, when the city shut it down after more than a year of battling with restaurateur Jesse Morreale. Morreale has been in a long feud with the city over his properties, and was ordered to
vacate 101 Broadway starting in 2012 due to the safety of the structure .
Morreale said in an interview last month that he still hopes to reopen Sketch and El Diablo. But the city has different ideas.
Planning department spokeswoman Andrea Burns said whoever pays up at the auction will also be responsible for bringing the building up to code. Structural concerns, roof issues and fire-safety problems await the property’s next owner.
“It’s all well within the ability for someone to do,” Burns said. “There are many talented developers in town who work on historic buildings all the time who could take this building to the next level.”
Elizabeth Hernandez: 303-954-1223, ehernandez@denverpost.com or @ehernandez
