Volume 31 • Number 40 • August 29, 2013
What’s Inside Botanic Gardens lures 550 to Fete
www.villagerpublishing.com
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A Landmark of a legal mess
Page 11
Investors may purchase development’s $100 million note
Page 29
Bennet pushes bipartisanship
Page 30
DTC/Greenwood Village Chamber Goose Chase a success
Two posh Landmark residential towers stand in the background as a light rail train speeds past the Village Shops at The Landmark’s upscale retail center. Photo by Tom
Don’t Miss:
group steamed over • Citizens long-awaited Depot sale Page 2 Cherry Hills Village launches • KCHV TV, Channel 22 Page 9 cancer fundraiser • Reporter’s continues
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Index
Page 5..................................Opinion Page 8............................ Classifieds Pages 11-22........................Fleurish Pages 24-28..........................Legals
TheVillagerNewspaper @VillagerDenver
By Tom Barry The colorful and wild times at The Landmark continue behind the scenes, as there is almost enough material for a reality television show at this point. The troubled Landmark consists of two ritzy high-rise towers and an adjacent upscale retail center just south of I-25 and Belleview, in Greenwood Village. In the last 10 months, Zack Davidson, The Landmark’s developer, was indicted by an 18th Judicial District grand jury on 20 counts of fraud and embezzlement of $3.1 million. The developer had already filed personal and business bankruptcies. In early January, Davidson commit-
ted suicide in a Florida forest. The Marin Special District was previously set up by Davidson and others to fund infrastructure improvements at the never-built European Village. This proposed extravagant residential development site remains undeveloped and is just south of the Landmark property. The district’s taxpayers are the residents of the two towers, The Landmark and the Meridian. The district has since filed a civil suit against its former attorney Paul Cockrel, accountant LeAnn Jones and Rike Palese, a real estate agent, to recover some of the pilfered funds. In this last month, Palese, who had the exclusive marketing
contract for the towers and served on the Marin board as a director, settled out of court for $100,000 while denying any wrongdoing. To further complicate matters, the homeowners association representing the two towers has a legal action relating to the Marin District. The two groups of lawyers representing the parties spent a full week in a trial at an Arapahoe County Court this month and are awaiting a judge’s decision. The primary financial lender for The Landmark properties was Hypo Bank in Germany, which has since gone belly up and has been acquired by the German government, which essentially owns the majority of the financial
Barry
note. Two other financial investors own a smaller portion of the note. The Arapahoe County Court selected Denver-based Andy Miller and David Frishman of the firm bearing their last names as the court-appointed receivers for the residential towers and the high-end retail, entertainment and restaurant property.
Potential investors shared with HOA
In the last few months, the receivers have been working diligently behind the scenes to maintain and improve the property for Continued on page 6
Village Center project draws contentious crowd
By Jan Wondra The Aug. 19 Greenwood Village public hearing and City Council meeting, focused on a proposed Village Center plan, drew a packed crowd intent upon being heard. The lengthy session, which began at 6 p.m. and ended at 11 p.m., was devoted to plan presentation, a lengthy public hearing and council’s questions to the presenters. The Village Center project at the center of debate is an 18.5acre, undeveloped parcel called the Koebel Annexation, located next to the public park and ride garage off Yosemite and Caley. The hearing begins what would be a complex procedure, involving five separate steps: rezoning to mixed use town center, amending the master plan, redesignating the city’s agreements with neighboring subdivisions, a special use permit and changes to the site development plan.
The proposed Village Center plan would divide the 18.5-acre parcel on Yosemite and Caley into an open space park, and a mixed use town center of high end, multi-family residential, commercial space and a hotel, across I-25 from the light rail station.
Image courtesy of Greenwood Village
Early in the public hearing, it became clear that opinions divided along demographic lines, as well as psychographics and lifestyle patterns. Comments were heard from
those wanting the Village to remain as close as possible to the way it was when they arrived, and those acknowledging the changing lifestyles of the south metro area. Of
particular focus, the workforce critically important to Colorado’s future, the upcoming 25-34-year-old demographic, as well as the older, highly-educated, demographic not choosing to be homeowners. The subjects of homeownership as the ideal for future workforce goals, the question of traffic loads close to residential neighborhoods and whether the city’s master plan truly intended for this area to be “mixed use” fueled the debate. There was a large residential presence from the Sundance and Hermitage neighborhoods, both for and against the project. Joy McGee, Greenwood Village planning manager, provided the plan overview, approved by Greenwood Village Planning & Zoning. The plan would divide the parcel (in its original 1984 configuration a Continued on page 6