Unclaimed land is rare in Denver. So in the middle of massive budget cuts and land acquisition for homelessness solutions, the city selling land for less than takeout for one from a fast food restaurant seems like an odd move at first glance.
When we saw a $10 land deal in District 6 with the University of Denver, we wondered: What's up with what's essentially a land giveaway?
For more than a quarter century, a 2,985-square foot narrow rectangular island of land tucked inside the University of Denver campus, has been somewhat improperly owned by the city in a slow-burn error nobody has been in a rush to correct.
"Pretty much everybody thought the University of Denver owned the plot," explained Christie Delaney, Director of Real Estate for the University of Denver.
The surrounding properties have been in the university's hands since 1997, but for some long-forgotten bureaucratic reason, 2149 E. Wesley Ave, once part of an alley, was never formally vacated by the city.
The city's ownership was discovered by university researchers and confirmed by city surveyors.
After several years of negotiations, turnover at the city and a pandemic later, City Council and the mayor will soon be deciding whether to turn the land over to DU.
"If everything goes as planned, this should be on its first reading in the full council next week on [Feb. 26], with a second reading/final vote on March 4," explained City Council spokesperson Robert Austin in an email.
The sale has been making its way through City Council committees without a hitch, and the sale is far from controversial.
"The Division of Real Estate has concluded that the landlocked parcel should have been vacated as part of the right-of-way vacation of adjoining South Gaylord Street in 1997," explained Department of Finance spokesperson Joshua Rosenblum. "As a result, the city is not requesting any consideration or compensation for the conveyance."
So why charge $10? That's a token amount for the bill of sale. If an actual giveaway made sense, it would be done.
Delaney explained to Denverite that the deal has been in the works for a few years, but that it hasn't exactly been a priority for either party.
Denver has done a few other things in recent years that topped the to-do list: managing municipal response to COVID-19; big projects at the airport, the National Western Center, the Convention Center and the 16th Street Mall; bringing 1,000 unhoused people inside; and sheltering and aiding more than 38,000 new immigrants.
Why bother with the transfer of ownership at all?
Delaney dubs it "a cleanup transaction."
