Denver Prep Academy students practice in the 375 S. Zuni St. gymnasium in 2021. (Hyoung Chang/The Denver Post)
The city of Denver plans to purchase a gymnasium in Denver’s Athmar Park neighborhood from the church that owns it.
Denver has a tentative deal to pay $4 million for the 10,000-square-foot structure at 375 S. Zuni St., as well as an adjacent 0.6-acre undeveloped lot.
The city plans to use the gym to house migrant families, according to city documents.
The property has been used in that way for much of the past year-and-a-half. Jon Gettings, executive pastor of Denver Community Church, which owns the gymnasium, told BusinessDen that Denver has leased it for about 13 nonconsecutive months since the start of 2023 as a temporary shelter.
“In the midst of that, they expressed interest in purchasing the property,” Gettings said.
The facility can accommodate 120 people, according to city documents. Dating back to 2022, Denver has been dealing with large waves of migrants, many from Venezuela. While other cities have also seen an influx, Mayor Mike Johnston has said Denver has received the most migrants on a per-capita basis.
The planned purchase still needs approved from the Denver City Council. It goes before a council committee on Tuesday.
In the future, if the gym is no longer needed for Denver’s “newcomer program,” the city will solicit community input into how the property should be used, according to documents prepared for the meeting. The site is zoned for a residential building of up to three stories.
The gym, which features a hardwood court under an impressive wooden barrel roof, has an interesting history. It was used by the American Basketball Association’s Denver Rockets in the 1970s, then owned for decades by the Mormon church, property records indicate.
From 2021 into 2022, the building was used by short-lived Denver Prep Academy, which sought to provide an alternative path for elite boys high school basketball players.
Then, in September 2022, Denver Community Church paid $3.8 million for the property. The congregation, which currently operates in Uptown, intended to use the gym for worship services and build offices and classrooms on the undeveloped lot.
But an increase in construction costs made those plans no longer feasible, so the church listed the property for sale last fall. The asking price was $4.2 million.
Denver Community Church’s existing facility in Uptown, a protected city landmark and former Jewish synagogue, has been on the market for years.
Denver Prep Academy students practice in the 375 S. Zuni St. gymnasium in 2021. (Hyoung Chang/The Denver Post)
The city of Denver plans to purchase a gymnasium in Denver’s Athmar Park neighborhood from the church that owns it.
Denver has a tentative deal to pay $4 million for the 10,000-square-foot structure at 375 S. Zuni St., as well as an adjacent 0.6-acre undeveloped lot.
The city plans to use the gym to house migrant families, according to city documents.
The property has been used in that way for much of the past year-and-a-half. Jon Gettings, executive pastor of Denver Community Church, which owns the gymnasium, told BusinessDen that Denver has leased it for about 13 nonconsecutive months since the start of 2023 as a temporary shelter.
“In the midst of that, they expressed interest in purchasing the property,” Gettings said.
The facility can accommodate 120 people, according to city documents. Dating back to 2022, Denver has been dealing with large waves of migrants, many from Venezuela. While other cities have also seen an influx, Mayor Mike Johnston has said Denver has received the most migrants on a per-capita basis.
The planned purchase still needs approved from the Denver City Council. It goes before a council committee on Tuesday.
In the future, if the gym is no longer needed for Denver’s “newcomer program,” the city will solicit community input into how the property should be used, according to documents prepared for the meeting. The site is zoned for a residential building of up to three stories.
The gym, which features a hardwood court under an impressive wooden barrel roof, has an interesting history. It was used by the American Basketball Association’s Denver Rockets in the 1970s, then owned for decades by the Mormon church, property records indicate.
From 2021 into 2022, the building was used by short-lived Denver Prep Academy, which sought to provide an alternative path for elite boys high school basketball players.
Then, in September 2022, Denver Community Church paid $3.8 million for the property. The congregation, which currently operates in Uptown, intended to use the gym for worship services and build offices and classrooms on the undeveloped lot.
But an increase in construction costs made those plans no longer feasible, so the church listed the property for sale last fall. The asking price was $4.2 million.
Denver Community Church’s existing facility in Uptown, a protected city landmark and former Jewish synagogue, has been on the market for years.
