Tenants at the strip mall at 6201 E. 14th Ave. in Denver include 7-Eleven, Snarf’s Sandwiches and La Fillette Bakery. (Max Scheinblum/BusinessDen)
The Denver City Council was asked to weigh in on something atypical at its Monday evening meeting.
“This is the first time this has ever happened in the state of Colorado,” Councilwoman Amanda Sawyer said.
Appearing before the body were Jamie Harris and Maurice Bennett, who together own the strip mall at 6201 E. 14th Ave., which counts 7-Eleven, Snarf’s Sandwiches and La Fillette Bakery among its tenants.
Their property is part of the Colfax Mayfair Business Improvement District, which covers a stretch of Colfax Avenue at the edge of the South Park Hill neighborhood. The BID was formed in 2014 and renewed earlier this year.
Harris and Bennett both previously served on the BID board. But on Monday, they appeared before council to ask the city leaders to let their property leave the BID — a request they knew was novel, although clearly allowed by state statute.
“Tonight, you guys are going to set up a precedent, whether you like it or not,” Harris said.
The pair failed. The council voted unanimously, with one member absent, to reject their request.
Harris and Bennett, acting as Chair Five Equities LLC, purchased the retail center in 2012 for $1.35 million, according to public records. Their property — or really their tenants, since the costs are passed on — pays about $4,100 annually to the BID, which is made up of 62 properties and will have a budget of $144,000 next year.
“When we bought that center … the place was — it needed work, we’ll just say,” Harris told council members. “But those are things we did. We’re bootstrap guys. If there’s problems, we take the call. We don’t have third-party managers and those types of things.”
Bennett noted most of the commercial properties within the BID are along Colfax, whereas their strip mall is at the corner of 14th Avenue and Krameria Street. That, he said, has become more of a noticeable difference amidst a focus on the forthcoming Bus Rapid Transit system, which will add bus-only lanes and stations to the center of East Colfax, he said.
“As the BRT process and all the other improvements were being discussed around Colfax, we started to realize we had some different interests from the Colfax-centric BID,” he said.
Bennett noted the strip mall is on the edge of the district. It sits across from a Safeway and a King Soopers, neither of which are included.
Hilarie Portell, executive director of the Colfax Mayfair BID, told council members that “it’s untrue that the BID has somehow become Colfax-centric over the years.” And she said the organization has done work that specifically benefitted the strip mall.
“I’ve worked on crime and safety issues in that particular area, including calling 911 this past Saturday night for a fire on their property that was addressed by the BID,” Portell said. “I’ve provided marketing support to their tenants and we do maintenance along the right of way along both edges of their property.”
Portell said the strip mall is located in a “crime and safety hotspot within our district, with very limited nighttime lighting and streetscape amenities.”
“If this property is excluded, it will continue to receive the benefits, but without paying its fair share,” she said.
Officials from other BIDs within the city, who also addressed the council, supported Portell.
“All BIDs are set up in a democratic process, through first a petition, then various outreach and then a vote. We, despite how elections turn out, we don’t often get a chance to exclude ourselves from the democratic process, which is a good thing,” said Frank Locantore, executive director of the Colfax Ave Business Improvement District, which covers a separate stretch of Colfax closer to downtown.
“Allowing the exclusion of random properties within districts would lead to catastrophic consequences for the districts. It simply isn’t feasible to have holes in districts where services aren’t provided,” said Richard Barrett, director of operations for the Cherry Creek North Business Improvement District.
Per state law, the council members’ decision was supposed to hinge on whether granting the request would have an “adverse impact” on the BID.
Portell argued that it would, given the organization’s “really modest budget.”
“We practically run it like a nonprofit organization,” she said. “So losing $4,100 a year does have an impact on us. That’s a lot of trash cans I can have dumped. That’s a lot of planter pots I can have watered. That’s a lot of sidewalks I can have cleaned.”
Harris and Bennett pushed back against a suggestion that granting their request could prompt other property owners to leave their BID or other one. They said they felt a “domino effect” was unlikely and, if it were to occur, would seem to indicate a broader problem with the districts.
“I don’t want to sunset the BID,” Bennett said. “I think the BID does work that benefits the BID members. We’re just of a different belief.”
Councilwoman Amanda Sawyer, who represents the area, called the decision “a really tough one.”
“I don’t think businesses should have to stay in their business improvement district if they don’t want to,” she said. “At the same time, there is a clear burden of proof that you have to meet in the statute, and I’m not sure that you’ve met it.”
Harris, who also owns other shopping centers in the region, declined to comment on the outcome when reached by BusinessDen Tuesday.
This is the second recent pushback against a BID in Denver. Some property owners in RiNo have pushed for that neighborhood’s BID, approaching the end of its first decade, to be dissolved or to reduce its mill levy. The council is expected to vote early next year on whether to renew the RiNo BID.
Commercial properties in the Colfax Mayfair BID are assessed a mill levy based on square footage, unlike in RiNo, where the levy is assessed on property valuations that have increased dramatically. That has kept the amount property owners pay steady, although the Colfax Mayfair BID did recently increase its assessment by 5 percent to cover rising costs, according to BID documents.
Tenants at the strip mall at 6201 E. 14th Ave. in Denver include 7-Eleven, Snarf’s Sandwiches and La Fillette Bakery. (Max Scheinblum/BusinessDen)
The Denver City Council was asked to weigh in on something atypical at its Monday evening meeting.
“This is the first time this has ever happened in the state of Colorado,” Councilwoman Amanda Sawyer said.
Appearing before the body were Jamie Harris and Maurice Bennett, who together own the strip mall at 6201 E. 14th Ave., which counts 7-Eleven, Snarf’s Sandwiches and La Fillette Bakery among its tenants.
Their property is part of the Colfax Mayfair Business Improvement District, which covers a stretch of Colfax Avenue at the edge of the South Park Hill neighborhood. The BID was formed in 2014 and renewed earlier this year.
Harris and Bennett both previously served on the BID board. But on Monday, they appeared before council to ask the city leaders to let their property leave the BID — a request they knew was novel, although clearly allowed by state statute.
“Tonight, you guys are going to set up a precedent, whether you like it or not,” Harris said.
The pair failed. The council voted unanimously, with one member absent, to reject their request.
Harris and Bennett, acting as Chair Five Equities LLC, purchased the retail center in 2012 for $1.35 million, according to public records. Their property — or really their tenants, since the costs are passed on — pays about $4,100 annually to the BID, which is made up of 62 properties and will have a budget of $144,000 next year.
“When we bought that center … the place was — it needed work, we’ll just say,” Harris told council members. “But those are things we did. We’re bootstrap guys. If there’s problems, we take the call. We don’t have third-party managers and those types of things.”
Bennett noted most of the commercial properties within the BID are along Colfax, whereas their strip mall is at the corner of 14th Avenue and Krameria Street. That, he said, has become more of a noticeable difference amidst a focus on the forthcoming Bus Rapid Transit system, which will add bus-only lanes and stations to the center of East Colfax, he said.
“As the BRT process and all the other improvements were being discussed around Colfax, we started to realize we had some different interests from the Colfax-centric BID,” he said.
Bennett noted the strip mall is on the edge of the district. It sits across from a Safeway and a King Soopers, neither of which are included.
Hilarie Portell, executive director of the Colfax Mayfair BID, told council members that “it’s untrue that the BID has somehow become Colfax-centric over the years.” And she said the organization has done work that specifically benefitted the strip mall.
“I’ve worked on crime and safety issues in that particular area, including calling 911 this past Saturday night for a fire on their property that was addressed by the BID,” Portell said. “I’ve provided marketing support to their tenants and we do maintenance along the right of way along both edges of their property.”
Portell said the strip mall is located in a “crime and safety hotspot within our district, with very limited nighttime lighting and streetscape amenities.”
“If this property is excluded, it will continue to receive the benefits, but without paying its fair share,” she said.
Officials from other BIDs within the city, who also addressed the council, supported Portell.
“All BIDs are set up in a democratic process, through first a petition, then various outreach and then a vote. We, despite how elections turn out, we don’t often get a chance to exclude ourselves from the democratic process, which is a good thing,” said Frank Locantore, executive director of the Colfax Ave Business Improvement District, which covers a separate stretch of Colfax closer to downtown.
“Allowing the exclusion of random properties within districts would lead to catastrophic consequences for the districts. It simply isn’t feasible to have holes in districts where services aren’t provided,” said Richard Barrett, director of operations for the Cherry Creek North Business Improvement District.
Per state law, the council members’ decision was supposed to hinge on whether granting the request would have an “adverse impact” on the BID.
Portell argued that it would, given the organization’s “really modest budget.”
“We practically run it like a nonprofit organization,” she said. “So losing $4,100 a year does have an impact on us. That’s a lot of trash cans I can have dumped. That’s a lot of planter pots I can have watered. That’s a lot of sidewalks I can have cleaned.”
Harris and Bennett pushed back against a suggestion that granting their request could prompt other property owners to leave their BID or other one. They said they felt a “domino effect” was unlikely and, if it were to occur, would seem to indicate a broader problem with the districts.
“I don’t want to sunset the BID,” Bennett said. “I think the BID does work that benefits the BID members. We’re just of a different belief.”
Councilwoman Amanda Sawyer, who represents the area, called the decision “a really tough one.”
“I don’t think businesses should have to stay in their business improvement district if they don’t want to,” she said. “At the same time, there is a clear burden of proof that you have to meet in the statute, and I’m not sure that you’ve met it.”
Harris, who also owns other shopping centers in the region, declined to comment on the outcome when reached by BusinessDen Tuesday.
This is the second recent pushback against a BID in Denver. Some property owners in RiNo have pushed for that neighborhood’s BID, approaching the end of its first decade, to be dissolved or to reduce its mill levy. The council is expected to vote early next year on whether to renew the RiNo BID.
Commercial properties in the Colfax Mayfair BID are assessed a mill levy based on square footage, unlike in RiNo, where the levy is assessed on property valuations that have increased dramatically. That has kept the amount property owners pay steady, although the Colfax Mayfair BID did recently increase its assessment by 5 percent to cover rising costs, according to BID documents.
