As list of neglected buildings grows, residents say City of Denver's response needs a rebuild

There's a growing problem in the metro, and it's starting to get noticed more than it did in the past. Denver 7's own former home, now owned by an out-of-town developer, one of the most recent examples, neglected buildings making neighborhoods look bad, sometimes causing troubles for people who live and work nearby. Denver 7's Ryan Fish talked with the Denver City Rep for the most affected area, and he found out why this is happening, and then asked, what's the fix? 123 Speer Boulevard was Denver 7's home for more than a half century. Three years ago, our company sold the building to developer Property Markets Group, and our team moved out in July. But this fall, vandals broke in and tagged our former home with graffiti, and Denver police arrested three people for criminal trespassing. It's really pathetic. Less than two miles away, down Lincoln Street, this house has been in disrepair for much longer. I moved onto this neighborhood in 2013. It's been empty ever since. Francis Pombar lives a few doors down. We spoke with him about this property last May. What's changed since we talked to you last? Nothing. Nothing has changed. What I'm concerned about is, is someone going to be shot and killed somewhere in the alley? Or is this house going to go on fire? The city doesn't respond in any sort of way. More than 200 neglected and derelict buildings are being tracked by the city, defined as generally unoccupied and unsafe properties that cause safety and quality of life problems for neighborhoods. I asked City Councilmember Jamie Torres what needs to change. It's a growing problem. Right now, her district is home to most of these properties. Those current fines that you're handing out, are those good enough? No. They could be better. They could be higher. If you have an owner who doesn't even live in Denver, they might not even live in Colorado, they may be considering the fines that are currently levied, because they are so low, to be just part of doing business. When a property is put on the list, the owner has 30 days to register that property and submit a plan to fix it. If not, they can be fined up to $16,000. More if the city calls for a show cause hearing. Torres says the city is holding more of these hearings now, but still needs better staffing and a more streamlined process to address these problem properties. There's more than twice as many of them now compared to the end of 2020. Torres says that growing list is a sign the city is starting to take this more seriously. Creating a list that gets bigger is actually beginning to solve a problem, because it's bringing some visibility and some light to a problem that's existed in the darkness. The problem has been plain to see for Francis. The city tells us this home's owner lives out of state and wants to move back in, but needs to fix it up first. Obviously he doesn't care, but someone's got to care, and it's me and the neighbors in this community. In Denver, Ryan Fish, Denver 7. In 2024, the Department of Community Planning and Development spent more than 700 hours inspecting these properties, which produced more than 800 911 or 311 calls to Denver police.