by Glen Richardson
Promises Versus Reality: An aerial photograph shows the current condition of Glendale’s 10-acre Four-Mile District, where a six-story, 733-space parking garage stands alongside a large expanse of undeveloped land. Despite ambitious plans for a major entertainment and commercial destination, all work has ceased, the project is currently abandoned, and the $25 million garage remains the only building constructed by Salazar in the district.
Cities in Colorado are finding that entering into a seemingly binding contract with a developer to construct a critical downtown project does not mean it will ever, in fact, be done. The City and County of Broomfield entered into a $300 million agreement in 2019 with developers to construct a Broomfield Town Square on Main Street.
However, the September 12, 2026, deadline to pull the required building permits lapsed with no action taken. On October 13, the Broomfield City Council issued a notice to the developers to show cause why the Site Development Plan should not be revoked.
Even more frightening, the City of Glendale, in a court filing, accused Denver-based Central Street Capital (“CRC”), headed by Rob Salazar and his family, through a related entity, of inventing an excuse not to perform its obligations regarding the $150 million Four-Mile District along Cherry Creek on Virginia Avenue, down from Shotgun Willie’s. CRC then sued the city for $20 million in state court, the same amount a Salazar-related entity has sought from the City and County of Denver in an unrelated suit regarding property in Globeville.
Litigious Father And Son: Rob Salazar (right) and Isiah Salazar (left) are pictured together at the groundbreaking of the Four-Mile District in Glendale on July 25, 2024. All work on the project has now ceased and through a related entity they are suing Glendale for $25 million which is just one of various lawsuits they have brought in the Denver area through entities they control against organizations (both private and governmental) they had been working with.
Glendale declared in its pleading: “Developer had no intention of completing the Project, so it manufactured a dispute to avoid closing on the purchase of Phase 1 Property.”
Litigious Family
The Glendale lawsuit is one of a long line of suits brought by Salazar-related entities regarding properties they are connected to in the Denver area.
Fox Street Investments LLC, a Salazar-controlled entity, acquired a small parcel of land (a 0.75-acre lot) in the Globeville area of Denver on which it wanted to squeeze a 20-story, 400-plus-unit apartment building. After the purchase, it sued the City and County of Denver, claiming its development rules were unconstitutional and caused the property to be worthless, while, absent the city rules, it would be worth $20 million.
Critics of the Salazars surmise that, instead of an entertainment district in Glendale, they wanted to acquire the 10-acre parcel, at least in part, to squeeze in high-density apartments, perhaps not dissimilar to what they are planning in Globeville.
A Salazar family holding company, SFF Reality Investors LLC, was a plaintiff in a 2019 lawsuit against Town and Country Motel, asserting that it was a public nuisance because of crime that interfered with its Fox Street properties.
Grand Plans: An architectural rendering depicts the ambitious vision for Glendale’s Four-Mile District, including an Alamo Drafthouse Cinema, hotel, restaurants, retail establishments, and public gathering spaces.
Rob and his wife, Lola, brought a lawsuit as shareholders in Solaro National Bank, claiming that majority shareholder and chairman Michael Quagliano (known as “Red Pant Man” for wearing red pants while sitting courtside at Denver Nuggets home games) spent money on planes and helicopters for personal use, including trips to away Nuggets games.
Another Salazar-related case involved “Auraria Student Housing at the Regency” (formerly the Regency Hotel), which sued an entity called Campus Village, claiming its exclusive agreement with CU-Denver, requiring all new international students and incoming students to reside at Campus Village, was an unfair monopoly. A federal jury awarded the Salazar-related entity $3.26 million, which federal antitrust laws triple for injured parties.
In the LoHi area of Denver, CRC developed a 57-unit apartment building which it sold for $34 million to a third party but signed a lease to keep their office space in the building. CRC then turned around as tenant and successfully sued the new owner as landlord alleging it had created an “intolerable condition” through maintenance problems and a failure to maintain the building at the required standard.
Healthcare Litigation
Red Pant Man: Michael Quagliano nicknamed the “Red Pant Man” for his attire attending courtside Denver Nuggets games. He is the subject of a shareholder lawsuit filed by developer Salazar and his wife adding another chapter to the legal controversies surrounding the Four-Mile District’s former developer.
Rob Salazar was originally an accountant and, prior to becoming a real estate developer, was involved in the healthcare field, where he became embroiled in very serious litigation.
The United States government sued him personally, as well as other individuals and entities, including Solomon Health Management LLC, of which Rob Salazar was president and CEO, under the federal False Claims Act, alleging fraudulent Medicare and Medicaid billing. Salazar was able to get some of the claims dismissed, but not others. The public record does not reflect the final disposition of the remaining claims, although numerous lawsuits were filed by individuals relating to the matter, claiming negligent care.
Parking Garage To Nowhere
Four-Mile District Parking Garage: The only building constructed by developer Salazar in the currently abandoned Glendale’s Four-Mile District is this empty six-story, 733-space parking garage on Virginia Avenue. Built on a one-acre lot owned by a Salazar-related entity, the $25 million garage was financed entirely by bondholders, with Salazar bearing none of the construction costs.
The only building constructed by Salazar regarding Glendale’s Four-Mile District is a massive six-story, 733-space garage on Virginia Avenue, on a one-acre lot owned by a Salazar-related entity. The parking garage cost $25 million to build, all of which was borne by bondholders and not Salazar.
The money to repay the bonds was expected to come from sales tax and other funds generated by a functioning entertainment district, which is now not going to be built, at least not by Salazar. Critics of Salazar point out that the parking garage could serve a high-density apartment development that they surmise Salazar would want to build on the remaining acreage.
The attorney for CRC, Daniel Richard of the law firm Davis Graham & Stubbs, told The Denver Post/BusinessDen that Glendale’s claim that CRC didn’t plan to complete the project was “false, unsupported, and directly contradicted by the record.” The case is set for trial beginning January 4, 2027.
