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Editor's note: This story has been updated after the contract passed through committee.
The city's deal to buy the Denver Post building took a step forward on Tuesday after City Council's Finance and Governance Committee approved the plan. The full Council will vote on it in the next few weeks.
Councilmember Paul Kashmann raised concerns about whether the city was getting a good deal on the $88.5 million purchase.
"Certainly, can we buy buildings that cost less? Absolutely," said Denver Director of Real Estate Lisa Lumley. "Are they going to be in our central courts hub? And will the building be the size that we need for the amount of space that now is required? And the answer is no."
The city has been renting a few floors of the building since 2016. But Denver is projected to need an additional 280,000 square feet of space for city courts and legal services by 2040.
Lumley said that's because the state reclassified some felonies as misdemeanors, increasing the projected caseload on city courts.
Councilmember Shontel Lewis, who was the sole no-vote on the contract, said the city should look at the bigger picture of reducing the volume of people coming through Denver's justice system altogether.
"Is there opportunity for us to think about, how do we decrease the number of folks that are actually accessing our courts?" she said on Tuesday. "What I hear is an increase in crime, an increase in folks who are going through the criminal justice system. It seems kind of in conflict to what we say as a city in terms of what we desire to do in terms of safety."
The original story continues below.
The City of Denver secured an agreement to buy the Denver Post Building at 101 West Colfax Ave. for $88.5 million from current owner Kayan, LLC. City Council's Finance and Governance Committee will consider the purchase agreement on Tuesday.
The building will house a variety of Denver's legal advocacy services and programs including rental assistance, which have been operating out of unmarked space in the City and County Building.
According to a city contract on the sale, the city pursued the building for legal services because of its proximity to the City and County Building and a number of courthouses and other city buildings. The city's courts staff will need more than 280,000 square feet of space by 2040.
Meanwhile, the city is also renovating the Wellington E. Webb building for more than $130 million, to house staff currently located on the leased floors of the Post building.
The city has been leasing more than 100,000 square feet of the building from the Denver Post since 2016, including a $10 million ten-year deal to add an additional floor in 2018.
Kayan, LLC bought the building for around $93 million in 2006, to house the Denver Post and now-defunct Rocky Mountain News. The Post has since moved most of its staff to its printing plant in Adams County.
The $88.5 million sale 17 years ago reflects a loss in value of commercial downtown buildings across the city and country following the pandemic.
