The council gave initial approval for the condemnation despite protests from the owner of the restaurant, D Diamond. Diamond has operated the restaurant for the past four years and holds a 15-year lease on the property. The city, however, negotiated with the Landies family, which owns the land.

Mile High Properties, which plans on developing the new mixed-use complex for the city, is offering Diamond two years of free rent in the new facility. After that, she'd pay the market rate of $35 per sf.

Diamond fears that will drive her into bankruptcy. She now pays $11 per sf, or $4,400 per month. She says at $35 per sf, her rent would jump to $15,000 a month.

Some council members questioned why Diamond signed a 15-year lease when it was common knowledge that the city was considering taking over that property since the late 1980s.

Want to continue reading?
Become a Free ALM Digital Reader.

Once you are an ALM Digital Member, you’ll receive:

  • Breaking commercial real estate news and analysis, on-site and via our newsletters and custom alerts
  • Educational webcasts, white papers, and ebooks from industry thought leaders
  • Critical coverage of the property casualty insurance and financial advisory markets on our other ALM sites, PropertyCasualty360 and ThinkAdvisor
NOT FOR REPRINT

© 2024 ALM Global, LLC, All Rights Reserved. Request academic re-use from www.copyright.com. All other uses, submit a request to [email protected]. For more information visit Asset & Logo Licensing.