by Mark Smiley | May 25, 2018 | Main Articles
Fired Principal And Accusers Seek To Be Millionaires
by Ruthy Wexler
Now Homeless: The notoriety that surrounded Ozell Williams as soon as the cheerleader video went viral, caused his income to shrink, his business, Mile High Tumblers, to diminish and job offers to disappear. Unable to continue paying rent, Williams now stores his belongings in a storage unit and sleeps in his car.
The East High Cheerleading scandal which erupted at the beginning of the 2017-18 school year, continues to roil the East High community, as the school year draws to a close. It was triggered August 2017 when a video of a young cheerleader screaming in pain went viral. Denver Public Schools (DPS) Superintendent Tom Boasberg immediately fired the coach Ozell Williams, who, the cheerleader claimed, forced her into a split. Boasberg removed East’s Athletic Director Lisa Porter and Principal Andy Mendelsberg when DPS’s own investigation deemed them responsible. East High families and staff remained divided about what really happened. Now, an impending lawsuit puts East cheerleaders back in the spotlight — and the Chronicle wonders: What happened to those at the center of the controversy?
Where Are They Now?
Andy Mendelsberg, forced out of his “dream job,” is negotiating, according to sources, a settlement in the million dollar range from DPS, in addition to his retirement package.
Lisa Porter could not be reached for comment.
Ally Wakefield, the cheerleader in the video, claims she suffered physical and emotional injuries under Williams’ coaching, as now do four other girls. Five families are represented by highly respected attorney Qusair Mohammedbhai, who, in a Draft Complaint, named Williams, Mendelsberg, Porter, two individuals from another school and DPS itself as defendants. Any settlements with DPS are expected to be in the multi-million-dollar range for each of the former cheerleader plaintiffs.
Tom Boasberg received a performance-based bonus of $18,000.
Ozell Williams i
Powerhouse: Qusair Mohammedbhai is the powerful and highly successful attorney for the punitive cheerleader plaintiffs in their actions against DPS and Ozell Williams. He has produced some of the highest judgements in the state for his clients.
s now living out of his car.
How’d That Happen?
Back in June 2017, Ozell Williams was a 29-year-old black man with an apartment, a savings account, a growing business (Mile High Tumblers) and a measure of local fame. Googling him produced a confident gymnast soaring through the air at a Nuggets game.
With the cheerleading video’s posting on August 22, 2017, Williams entered a new world. Used to accolades from tumbling students and parents, he now received torrents of angry emails, many racial. Googling him called
Supportive Parent: Ozell Williams with East cheerleader Rajha, her mother Shaunna and East student Mekaela at a Nuggets game in March 2018. Like the majority of East cheer parents, Shaunna does not believe that Williams harmed or intentionally hurt her daughter in any way.
up only the crying cheerleader. Gyms who’d welcomed Mile High Tumblers now refused. Publications uniformly condemned him, even those formerly full of praise.
In their Spring 2016 “Best Of” issue, Denver’s Westword applauded Mile High Tumblers’ community outreach. “Williams is changing Colorado for the better, one flip at a time.”
Three days after the video posted, on August 25, 2017, Westword denounced Williams’ actions as “torture.”
The notoriety now attached to Williams scared off clients. “He lost a lot of sponsors,” says accountant Natasha Jackson. “His business went down to a few loyal supporters.”
Savings depleted, Williams looked for tumbling, then other, work. But once employers, like a recent Comcast supervisor, googled him, jobs were no longer available.
“The media slandered me without doing research, Williams says. “The person they describe, that’s not who I am.”
Who Is Ozell Williams?
Supporters: On November 21, 2017, Inside Edition flew in from New York, to film Williams at Gymnastics Unlimited in Northglenn and tell “his side of the story.” About 45 supporters, including East cheerleaders, their parents, former tumbling students and assistant coaches, showed up. But the TV spot, sandwiched between Thanksgiving stories, lasted only five minutes and did not reach many people.
Raised in extreme poverty, Williams determined early on to perfect whatever talents he possessed. “Tumbling brought me out of where I came from.” He won prizes, performed with Team USA and one cold day in 2014, broke the Guinness World Record for back handsprings (47) by pushing himself to 57.
Williams reveled in the life he’d built from scratch, pride occasionally manifesting as an over-the-top claim; e.g., saying he’d been an Olympic athlete because he “considered Team USA on an Olympic level.” But his accomplishments were sufficiently solid for DPS to hire him on May 11, 2017, to lead iconic East High School’s cheer team into competition.
Hard Coach
“I’d heard East cheerleaders, under Terita Berry, had a huge reputation,” says cheer mom Shaunna Stribling, part of the Interviewing Committee that chose Williams, “but that went away with the next coach, under whom there were lots of injuries — and we realized why: those girls weren’t conditioned.
“We decided, among the things we cared about most in a new coach, conditioning was first … and Ozell did it, he conditioned the hell out of those girls. Had them running miles, they had arm muscles, six-packs … They were strong!
“Ozell’s what’s known as a hard coach.”
“Cheerleading is now a competitive sport,” says cheer mom Nikki Higgs. “Twenty-plus girls [on that team] wanted that push to become athletes. Only a few did not.”
“What I see when I look at my daughter’s video [of the stretch], is just hard work,” says one cheer mom. “That’s what athletics is.”
“The split stretch was not sudden,” explains Williams. “It was a culmination of all we’d worked on. I’d been conditioning [the team] for five weeks, including stretches preparatory to a split.
“Ally could have come out of [the split] at any time. Just like she did the first time, by dropping her hip.”
Mile High Tumblers: Williams at work doing what he loves best, coaching and teaching tumbling.
“Right before she did it,” recalls cheerleader Nyla Higgs, “Ally called to [a friend], ‘Take my phone and record me.’”
Several parents voiced their belief that the video was a setup.
Aftermath
On October 11, 2017, DA Beth McCann cited “two key reasons” she didn’t file charges against Williams: “Opinions differ [regarding the split stretch] and, there were differing accounts of what actually happened that day.”
Cheerleaders and parents who support Williams — a majority — say he prepared girls for the stretch and told them it was optional.
The families who are suing claim Williams forced girls into splits; when “they begged to stop, pushed them down even harder.” Included in their list of emotional injuries, many ways Williams “sexually harassed” the girls, including “dressing them in incredibly skimpy uniforms” — a claim other parents call “ridiculous.”
The team had forged friendships. Now the five whose families are suing say they’re bullied at school; teammates claim the opposite is true.
Williams continues to post videos and photos he says prove his innocence, to attorneys’ consternation.
“I need to clear my name,” says Williams. “What do I have to lose? They’ve already taken away my life.”
How Hard Is That?
Many parents question DPS’s handling of the controversy. “It feels like a cover-up,” observed one couple with two kids at East.
Another parent, an attorney, remains “… horrified at the money DPS has spent … Fees to an ‘outside law firm’ who were really their real estate lawyers. A PR firm. Paying Andy off … lowballing, I’ll still bet millions.”
“DPS is so busy burnishing its reputation and protecting powerful people, they simply weren’t paying attention,” says a disgusted cheer mom. “So they hang Ozell out to dry. Why didn’t they survey the situation — a talented coach, a young black man about to work with young girls — and realize someone experienced should also be there? How hard is that?”
A former East parent observes, “Everyone knows, it was either Boasberg’s or Mendelsberg’s head that had to roll. Boasberg has political aspirations, so …”
Mendelsberg, declining to talk for this article, wrote, “I truly appreciate your prior article in regard to the cheerleading incident [Chronicle, November 2017]. “It was nice to see the truth. I hope the truth in this latest situation comes out.”
by Mark Smiley | May 25, 2018 | Main Articles
SEO: If your business does not have a Search Engine Optimization (SEO) team, you may be falling behind your competitors.
by Glen Richardson
A search of “Dog Groomers in Denver” turns up 8,490,000 hits on Google. “Pizza Places in Denver” returns 27,300,000 results. Google “Dentists in Denver” and you’ll get over 33 million. “You literally have a greater chance of being hit by a meteorite (1 in 1.6 million) than your business has of getting found through a search engine,” says Glendale Cherry Creek Chronicle Marketing Director Julie Hayden.
Google says it processes 40,000 search queries a second. Hayden says businesses know it’s important to have a presence on the internet. But the challenge is getting there. “Every day I talk to people who want to promote their business or event. But owners wear so many hats these days, it’s challenging enough just to create and maintain a website let alone figure out how to increase their online visibility.”
That’s why the Glendale Cherry Creek Chronicle is launching a partnership with an
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SEO (Search Engine Optimization) and a v
Maximize Exposure: Seth Drake with JSD Digital uses industry leading tactics to make sure clients get found faster on internet searches.
ideo production company, JSD Digital.
“We want to help our clients and small businesses increase online visibility. It’s a direct correlation: the more people see and connect with your brand, the more likely they are to pursue your services,” Hayden points out.
Get Found Faster
Seth Drake, owner of JSD Digital, says, “If you are not working with an SEO expert, you are already behind because your competition is.”
He explains, JSD Digital uses industry-leading tactics to first check and amend your site to be sure the architecture and design of the pages are recognized as relevant to your industry. This helps search engines understand your business and therefore rank them accordingly. “The landscape of SEO changes quickly, and we are on the leading edge of understanding and utilizing what works,” Drake adds.
From reputation management to proper schema mark up to the discovery process behind keyword analysis, JSD Digital harnesses all avenues within SEO. “The internet can be your best friend or a debilitating enemy,” explains Drake. “Companies want to know that when they are spending money, it’s so they can directly make more money. That’s what it comes down to. There is a lot of technical jargon but what is important is the bottom line and bringing in customers you wouldn’t have otherwise reached.”
Video Equals Views: Jennifer Jordon with JSD Digital produces visually compelling content that gets clients noticed.
Drake notes the partnership with the Glendale Cherry Creek Chronicle creates win-win cases where a business is featured in a news article and can capitalize on that positive press. “JSD Digital will make sure that positive article stays on the first page search results for months or even years after the print date. The benefits from quality press coverage will give your business legitimacy and help build trust in the marketplace.”
“If you advertise in the Chronicle, augmented by SEO and videography, you are getting the biggest bang for your dollar,” Hayden added.
Drake dove into the world of SEO as a small business owner himself. It was hard for his new business to stand out among more aged and trusted brands. Looking for innovative ways to promote his new business he turned to the internet and SEO. “Seeing so many quality brands and companies buried by the competition was frustrating. I started studying and exploring different techniques to boost rankings to ultimately match customers looking for what I was offering.” After seeing so many other local businesses out there hitting the same hurdles, he founded JSD Digital to help business owners increase their relevancy. “It comes down to persistence, research, and understanding how search engine algorithms work. You have to give the search engines what they are looking for to get results.” Drake explains the process of SEO is ever changing. He enjoys making the process evergreen which allows his results to grow versus other “churn-and-burn” tactics that may generate quick boosts, but fade just as quickly.
Drake uses a combination of many “white hat” techniques — meaning these approaches are acceptable by Google and related search engines without breaking their terms of service. Calculated plans are designed for each client. “Customization is the key, everyone’s business and website is unique and it’s important for us to understand how to fit their needs for their market. One size does not fit all in SEO.” adds Drake.
With this kind of experience, Drake can not only maximize your business’ exposure on search engines, he can help manage online reputations and reviews.
Get Engaged
Hayden says the Glendale Cherry Creek Chronicle’s partnership with JSD Digital offers a second level of enhancement for business’ online presence and that’s video. “We live in a visual world, consumers are bombarded by thousands of ads daily. If you can’t stand out, you won’t be remembered.” Research shows videos are twice as likely to get views than still pictures or text alone. But many small business owners don’t have the time or ability to put together professional videos.
Jennifer Jordon, who oversees video production at JSD Digital explains, “That’s where we come in. Our passion is exploring how to make your brand shine on a visual platform.”
Jordon has over 10 years experience producing television and commercial content. “Seeing the control of the advertisers for prime-time programming inspired me to do something different with the skillsets I had cultivated directing and producing various productions.” Jordon further explains that small businesses need more r
Award-Winning Expertise: Behind the scenes with JSD’s Jennifer Jordon on location with HGTV’s The Treehouse Guys.
esources than ever to compete with large brands. Having a memorable video or collection of still photography can be an invaluable resource. “At JSD Digital, we offer many tiers of production services,” she says. “Getting creative with a budget and collaborating is my favorite part. Memorable commercial content can give any business the lead they are looking for to get ahead of the competition.”
Jordon points out the videos can also be posted on a company’s Facebook page, Twitter account, YouTube, and she works with companies to make the most of their digital assets.
If you have considered SEO or are curious about the potential, JSD Digital offers free consultations and website evaluations.
For more information, contact Glendale Cherry Creek Chronicle Marketing Director Julie Hayden at julie@glendalecherrycreek.com or 303-359-8366.
by Mark Smiley | Apr 27, 2018 | Main Articles
Reforms To Help Homeowners Blocked By Powerful Lobbyist CAI
by Ruthy Wexler
LAC: Members of CAI’s Legislative Action Committee, which acts as lobbyists for HOAs and their supporters, meets with Colorado lawmakers to discuss upcoming bills. CAI has repeatedly blocked all reform legislation to aid homeowners.
Advocate: Stan Hrincevich started the Colorado HOA Forum, his advocacy group for homeowners. An HOA Town Hall with lawmakers is scheduled for Tuesday, May 22, 2018, 5:30-8:30 p.m., Aurora Central Library, 14949 E. Alameda Parkway, Large Community Room.
Voices For Reform: Notwithstanding important and influential community voices such as former Colorado Senate President Morgan Carroll, left, and former longtime news anchor and now author Ward Lucas, right, demanding that reforms be made to the abusive power of Colorado HOAs, CAI has prevented any and all reforms to aid homeowners. Some highly frustrated advocates have begun discussing strategies to bring suit against CAI or organize boycotts against the Rocky Mountain chapter.
Homeowner Associations (“HOAs”) are of increasing importance to homeowners in Denver and across Colorado. HOAs are set up to govern condominium associations and the common areas within condominiums. In single family home areas HOAs are set up to enforce covenants and to oversee common areas such as pools, tennis courts etc. which may be owned by the association as a whole.
Denver HOAs are also set up to advocate for neighborhood concerns even where the homes in the neighborhood are not covenant restricted or have common areas to oversee. These unique type HOAs in Denver may have their own challenges, but are not the subject of this article.
In Colorado, over 60 percent of the population lives with common interest HOAs, but in Colorado and across the country individuals and families have discovered that these HOAs can be highly oppressive with individuals and families having little recourse under Colorado law to prevent or limit those abuses. Any and all reforms advocated by individual homeowners to curb abuses are shot down at the Colorado legislature by a power lobbying group titled Community Association Institute — Rocky Mountain Chapter (“CAI”).
Catch-22
At first glance, it seems that Colorado has made progress in protecting homeowners. In 1992, after years of complaints, the state passed The Colorado Common Interest Ownership Act (CCIOA), a comprehensive package setting guidelines for HOA conduct, adding more statutes in 2005. In 2013, after a particularly high wave of grievances, CO lawmakers considered the “HOA Reform Act,” which Denver’s television station CBS 4 predicting the legislation would “rein in the powerful HOA industry.”
Resulting laws set stricter standards in matters like debt collection and foreclosure, as did additional 2015 statutes.
But all these laws lack one essential piece: any enforcement mechanism for individual homeowners.
No Exit
HOAs do not fall under any regulatory a
gency or higher authority. Even Colorado’s “HOA Office” (HOA Information and Resource Center, established inside Department of Regulatory Agencies [DORA] in 2011 to help homeowners) is authorized only to receive complaints, not act on them.
Thus, an aggrieved Colorado homeowner’s only option is still: hire an attorney and take your HOA to court.
Not only is court very expensive, says former state senator Morgan Carroll, but “because HOA attorneys have access to unlimited funds (including homeowners’ dues and reserves),” homeowners have been given short shift in most Colorado courtrooms.
Shocked Into Advocacy
In 2012, Stan Hrincevich, suspecting financial irregularities, requested records from his HOA, which refused. Knowing CCIOA gave homeowners the right to view all records, Hrincevich sued his HOA. In discussions, HOA lawyers deemed Hrincevich’s position correct. “But the only way they’d agree to rectifying the situation was if I paid court costs. Then, back in court, the judge ruled in favor of the HOA. And told me to pay the costs!”
Galvanized, Hrincevich started Colorado HOA Forum, an advocacy group whose website offers a wealth of information, most of which Hrincevich can spout on a dime. The issue he speaks about most is enforcing existing laws — by installing, under DORA, “an out-of-court, binding dispute resolution process.”
It’s not just Hrincevich asking. The HOA Office has received “thousands” of homeowner requests for some “affordable, non- adversarial” way to get justice.
In their 2013 Report to the Legislature, the HOA Office showed that such processes work well in the two states, Florida and Nevada, that have installed them. The report concludes, “To restore equality “[Colorado] should establish a binding Arbitration Program for HOA disputes.”
In 2013, Hrincevich urged lawmakers to incorporate the report’s recommendation. So did then-Senator Carroll, who, with colleague Su Ryden, proposed an Ombudsman solution. “We tried to get an enforcement piece [in those laws]. We couldn’t get the votes.”
Hrincevich recalls, “I’d go down to the Capitol [in 2013] and tell [lawmakers], ‘There’s nothing accessible and affordable for the homeowner to enforce a complaint.” Fighting him, however, was the powerful lobbying group the Rocky Mountain chapter of the national CAI. The CAI was founded in 1974 by the National Association of Homebuilders, the Urban Land Institute, federal governmental agencies, savings and loan associations and 23 builders/developers. It has chapters across the United States and internationally. Today it is viewed by critics as an avowed enemy of everyday homeowners and citizens and just one more special interest behemoth to which many legislators appear beholden across the county.
Who Is CAI?
CAI is who State Senator Angela Williams meant when she said, “Dispute resolution is tricky in Colorado. There’s a lobby.”
“CAI is one of the most powerful lobbying groups in the country,” explains longtime Denver investigative journalist and television new
Widely Despised Organization: Homeowners throughout Colorado have come to loathe the Rocky Mountain Chapter of the Community Associations Institute as an unscrupulous special interest group harming families and individuals throughout the state.
s anchor Ward Lucas, “benefitting lawyers and [management companies] t
hat work for HOAs.”
“CAI is down at the Capitol all day, every day,” says Carroll. “Especially if they don’t like a bill.”
“If you have legislation that even hints of regulatory oversight,” says Carson Horton of Capital Reserve Consultants, “[CAI] is there … fight[ing] it to the death.”
Hrincevich says he finally got lawmakers to understand that CAI does not represent homeowners. “But they still allow CAI to write legislation.”
Asked if that were true, Colorado CAI Board President Denise Haas replied, “Our Legislative Action Committee interacts on a day to day basis with lawmakers to protect HOAs. We … help craft legislation that gets the most for HOAs.”
Flawed
Haas insists that the system works for homeowners because homeowner-elected boards make decisions.
In his book, Neighbors at War: the Creepy Case Against Your Homeowners Association, Lucas lists many the pitfalls that make homeowner boards a “fundamentally flawed” system. “Neighbors shouldn’t have that much power over neighbors,” says Lucas, who describes how the board’s unlimited power often results in “rogue” boards that leave homeowner interests far behind.
Most board members begin sincerely, says Professor Evan McKenzie, author of Privatopia, “but are unprepared to make complex construction or financial decisions.”
If boards “make decisions,” what do management companies do?
“They educate and guide boards,” replied Haas. “… put the right people in front of them.”
In one Aurora condominium complex, a management company “guided” the board to sign a contract giving the company 3-5 percent of any construction project done on the property (supposedly for “supervision” but no qualified staff ever showed up). In a Denver condominium complex, the management company repeatedly recommended the same disappointing landscaper.
“People need to understand, it’s a business,” Haas explains.
It’s A Business
HOAs are a very big business. The number of HOAs in the U.S. jumped from 10,000 in 1970 to 338,000 in 2015. In 2016, $10 million in Transfer Fees alone flowed from 9,200 Colorado HOAs, with $85 billion in Assessments collected from U.S. homeowners. CAI’s website brims with financial opportunities for HOA vendors — while the list of homeowner horror stories grows.
“We lost all our health and wealth,” said an Englewood, Colorado couple, their home foreclosed due to $9,000 in HOA penalties over a misplaced trash can.
A frightened Denver woman received continual “cease and desist” letters from attorneys after she criticized her HOA.
A Texas woman was foreclosed upon when she couldn’t pay a $15,500 “special assessment” — though just previously, her HOA spent $650,000 on new manager and guest suites, including furniture bought from the board president’s business.
How do HOAs get away with such?
“The way HOAs are legally structured, they can do pretty much anything they want,” says Carroll, explaining that HOAs function exactly like governments but “are exempt from the checks and balances we expect — because they’re set up as corporations.” People have trouble absorbing this, says Lucas, because we grow up believing that if we purchase a home, we’re safe inside it.
Fear
CAI insists trouble comes only from homeowners who “don’t obey rules.”
“Ten percent of homeowners create controversy,” says Haas, adding that unhappy homeowners can simply vote in a different board.
Not so simple, says an elderly Denver woman. “Everyone here is busy working or old and tired like me.”
“I bought this condo to retire,” says a businesswoman, who, like others, refused to be named for fear of reprisal. “Now I can’t relax, waiting for the next crazy rule they make up.”
There are many HOAs that don’t abuse power. Some, like Windsor Gardens, hire a professional General Manager.
But buyers who don’t want HOAs will have a hard time in Colorado, where almost all new construction, even upscale single-family, is registered by developers as HOA.
Cities love HOAs, says CAI’s Dawn Bauman, “because they save a lot of money … transferring municipal obligations to the homeowner association.” Plus “the 2.3 million workers [volunteer board members] we give cities for free.”
Hrincevich and other homeowner advocates believe that the Colorado legislature needs to look beyond powerful lobbying groups like CAI and provide rights and remedies to individual homeowners to address the abuses of HOAs as have happening in many other states.
For information about Hrincevich’s homeowner group, visit www.colorado hoaforum.com. For information about the Rocky Mountain Chapter of the CAI, visit www.cai-rmc.org.
by Mark Smiley | Apr 27, 2018 | Main Articles
by Glen Richardson
Tower Price Power: Soaring parking cost isn’t just in new high-rise condos. A space in the Brooks Tower on 15th St. sold last year for $67,000, the third highest. The 42-story condo tower is the city’s first high-rise residential building.
Spire Price Spiral: The height of living in this 42-story condo building downtown comes with soaring prices. A single parking space in the garage at the high-rise on 14th St. has sold for $74,000, a new record price to park and live downtown.
A single parking space in the ritzy 42-story Spire high-rise downtown on 14th St. has sold for $74,000. The outlay sets a new record for the price to park and live in a condominium home in the heart of downtown.
Space 131 in the garage of the condo tower — a chic retreat in downtown’s Theatre District — topped the previous $70,000 price tag set last June for another Spire space, according to BusinessDen who first reported the sale. The city’s homepage for business news said broker-owner Mark Trenka of Century 21 handled both Spire deals. The third priciest was a $67,000 sale last May in the Brooks Tower on 15th St., the city’s first high-rise residential building. Trenka also represented the buyer in that deal.
While Valley residents regularly confront parking predicaments, most hope to get lucky on the street or opt to rent a spot. People who have condos in the heart of downtown, however, in certain cases have the option of buying a space in their building’s parking garage. They just have to be ready to shell out what you would pay for a 2017 Maserati Ghibli S Q4 for the privilege.
Parking Poker
Pricey parking — spaces on the resale market regularly sell for from $25K to upwards of $55K — provides a metaphorical look at how the price for parking is adding to the cost of living under the city’s Denver Moves transportation arrangement. Mile High’s bike and pedestrian plan has installed dedicated bike lanes throughout downtown thoroughfares, a move that’s gobbled up scores of parking spaces created for residents and tourists on Denver’s streets.
Then there’s Cherry Creek North: Apartment towers, condos and hotel construction in the once swanky shopping district forced the Cherry Creek Shopping Center to implement a paid parking system to protect the mall’s parking for its own customers. Commuters, construction workers and people living or shopping in Cherry Creek North used the 5,001 mall parking spaces, making it tough for mall patrons to find a spot.
Most residents literally pay for parking even if they don’t use it. If you live in a condo or apartment that includes parking, that parking comes with an extra fee or is tucked into your mortgage or rent. Moreover, many multi-family residential buildings have more parking than their residents require. Someone has to pay for those spaces. Someone also has to pay for the fact that a $75 monthly parking fee doesn’t fully cover the cost of creating it.
Spending Spiral
Spire originally offered no parking spaces to potential buyers despite having seven levels of parking. Thus, today when buyers look at condo resales they might find two, one or no parking spaces for any given unit. This trend in parking is allowing sellers to experiment with how they sell their units. It’s possible to break apart a condo from the parking space to seek an increased total sales price. This becomes especially true when a buyer is willing to spend $70K for a particular single parking space where they live.
Privileged Parking: Buyers at the under construction Laurel Cherry Creek won’t have to contend with the street parking crunch as the purchase includes parking. The 11th floor penthouse buyer will get three parking spaces for just under $4 million
It can, however, be difficult to get a mortgage for just a parking space. Most non-cash buyers opt for a loan on the value of another property they own, or reappraise the condo based on the addition of a parking space, and then get a mortgage based on that new figure. Individuals who purchase a parking space will likely owe more in HOA fees since they will then own a slightly greater percentage of the building. According to Century 21’s Trenka, a space in Spire’s garage comes with $22.68 in monthly HOA fees. At Brooks Tower that figure is $79.36 a month.
Many buildings assign at least one parking space to a unit, but often offer additional spaces as sales incentives once site sales begin. That’s why future buyers at a particular condo may only find one space offered. In some cases, of course, the original buyer may have opted out of purchasing a second space. At Denver’s Glass House condos in LoDo additional parking spaces originally sold for $15K, but were later increased to $40K. Pricey condos, nevertheless, typically include parking spaces. In Cherry Creek North at the still under construction Laurel Cherry Creek Condos, the 11th floor penthouse comes with three parking spaces for just under $4 million ($3,999,467).
Density’s Price
How much does a parking spot add to a condo mortgage or an apartment’s rental fee? Experts say there is no single answer to the question. Construction costs are affected by soil conditions, zoning requirements, site constraints and the type of parking to be built. Furthermore, initial capital cost varies based on property taxes and cost of financing. For rental properties, resident turnov
er and delinquency rates are added factors.
Seemingly cheap parking at apartment complexes can be costing renters as much as $250 a month. The point: an apartment with parking space costs more to build than one without. The typical fees for apartment buildings don’t generally cover that difference. In many cases developers create more parking than a building actually needs so they have the option to convert to condos as the market changes.
Bottom line: parking spaces are becoming more valuable as density downtown and throughout the Valley builds up and parking options become limited. This is exposed by the increase in the resale prices for parking spaces and the lack of supply. Residents — whether owners or renters — are increasingly likely to see “Parking Space wanted” signs on the building message board. Moreover, as the price of parking spots soars condo “Parking Space for sale” signs are increasingly likely to also be listed.
by Mark Smiley | Mar 23, 2018 | Main Articles
Police Union, Sheriffs’ Union, Latino Activists, Women’s Groups Demand Investigation And/Or Resignation Of Mayor
by Charles C. Bonniwell
Mounting Scandals: Denver Mayor Michael Hancock has been met with increasing calls for his resignation over a myriad of sex scandals including the sexual harassment of Detective Branch-Wise and being a john at Denver Players/Sugar brothel.
Accuser: Denver Police Detective Leslie Branch-Wise has accused Mayor Michael Hancock of sexually harassing her while she was on his security detail in 2011-2012.
Denver Mayor Michael Hancock has been inundated with sex scandals over the last month. His latest troubles began on February 27, 2018, with Channel 7 News investigative reporter Tony Kovaleski’s explosive interview with Denver Police Detective Leslie Branch-Wise who had been on the Mayor’s security detail beginning after his election in 2011.
Branch-Wise accused Hancock of sexually harassing her and provided on air texts of text messages he sent to her including one which stated:
“So I just watched this story on women taking pole dancing classes. Have you ever taken one? Why do women take the course? If not have you ever considered one and why? Your thoughts?”
“Be careful, I’m curious. LOL!”
Hancock Defense
Hancock would issue a video apology to Wise-Branch stating: “During Detective Branch-Wise’s time on the security team, we became friends, but my text messages in 2012 blurred the lines between being a friend and being a boss.” While Branch-Wise accepted the apology, she declared she has many “friends” and none of them send her salacious harassing text messages.
Branch-Wise was paid $75,000 in July 2013 by the City for unclear reasons since she never filed a complaint, and some critics have claimed the payment was simply “hush money” to prevent Branch-Wise from revealing the mayor’s actions.
In the video the mayor claimed that Branch-Wise had complained to him that Wayne McDonald had sexually harassed her and that he had him fired four days later. That statement by Hancock, however, will result in a federal lawsuit being filed “soon” against the mayor by Wayne McDonald according to McDonald’s attorney William Sultan for defamation and breach of a non-disclosure agreement.
McDonald Under The Bus
McDonald had been the best friend of Hancock. They went to school together at Hastings College in Nebraska and both had worked at the Urban League in Denver. Immediately after being elected mayor, Hancock had the city hire McDonald for an $85,000 amorphous job position which critics claim was little more than keeping the mayor company during the day.
In 2012 McDonald went to lunch at Racines Restaurant with then City Attorney Doug Friednash (an attorney from the law firm of Brownstein Hyatt Farber Schreck [the “Brownstein Law Firm”] and the Denver Manager of Safety Stephanie O’Malley (the daughter of former Denver Mayor Wellington Webb). He was told that he could quit his job or be fired for sexual harassment against Branch-Wise. McDonald protested his innocence and demanded an honest investigation and a hearing to clear his name but they refused. The Mayor’s spokeswoman Amber Miller then went public saying he was fired for serious misconduct and sexual harassment.
McDonald sued Hancock in federal court claiming that Hancock had lied simply to hide his own misconduct regarding Branch-Wise.
In 2016, on the eve of trial, the City settled, paying McDonald $200,000 and each side agreed not to disparage the other which McDonald indicates the mayor has violated as well as failing to disclose the damning text messages to Branch-Wise and McDonald.
City Council Weighs In — Kinda
District 1 City Councilman Rafael Espinoza sent a scathing letter to the mayor’s office calling for an independent investigation to “remove the cloud forming over your administration” regarding the payments to Branch-Wise and McDonald. A day later, however, the City Council went into an executive session, therefore not open to the public, which produced a statement by Hancock ally and City Council President Albus Brooks on behalf of the City Council saying they were declining to call for an investigation in order not to “re-victimize” Branch-Wise.”
The Albus Brooks gambit failed to quiet the uproar when Branch-Wise went back on the air on Channel 7 with Tony Kovaleski to declare that no one from the City had asked her whether she wanted an investigation and she did, in fact, want one. That statement forced the Council President to scramble and declare that the City Council would look into its options on the matter.
Angry Law Enforcement And Latino Rally
Resignation Demand: Lisa Calderón of the Latino Colorado Forum along with feminist groups across the city rallied on the steps of the Denver City and County Building demanding the resignation of Mayor Michael Hancock. The Mayor was conveniently not in his office at the City and County Building that day.
In the meantime on March 3, 2018, the Colorado State Lodge – Fraternal Order of Police, which represents the Denver Sheriff’s Deputies and is the largest organization representing law enforcement in Colorado, wrote a letter to Governor John Hickenlooper demanding a change in of
fice of Mayor in Denver along with the Safety Director, the Police Chief and the head of the Sheriff’s Department.
The letter outlined eight scandals in the Police Department and nine in the Denver Sheriff’s Department during Hancock’s time in office. In the meantime the Colorado’s Police Protective Association (PPA) issued its own statements supporting Branch-Wise and castigating Mayor Hancock along with Police Chief White. The PPA had previously passed a resolution of “no confidence” in Police Chief White.
On March 7, on the steps of the City and County Building, a rally headed by Lisa Calderón of the Colorado Latino Forum was held demanding the resignation of Mayor Hancock for sexual harassment which was covered all by of the major media in Denver.
The Return Of Scottie Ewing
As if Mayor Hancock did not have enough problems, an old nemesis, former brothel owner Scottie Ewing, reappeared on radio host (710 KNUS) and Chronicle columnist Peter Boyles’ top-rated morning show. Just before the June 7, 2011, mayoral runoff Ewing charged that Hancock was a patron of the
Sugar Man: Scottie Ewing has returned to prominence with audiotapes accusing Mayor Hancock of being a john at his former brothel house in Denver.
brothel he ran at 1675 Fillmore Street called Denver Players/Sugar. Two years previously, Chief Judge of the United States District Court
House Of The Rising Sun: 1675 Fillmore Street, the former site of Denver Players/Sugar, a brothel run by Scottie Ewing that Mayor Hancock has been accused of being a john in.
Edward Nottingham had to resign his judgeship after it was revealed by Debra Sherman of Channel 7 News that he had been a “john” at that brothel.
The Denver Post and Channel 9 News, at the time, had a joint working relationship. Both agreed to hold the Ewing story about Hancock being a patron of the brothel until after the election, based on Hancock’s promise to provide proof that it was a lie based on his cell phone and bank records.
However, once Hancock had won the runoff against Chris Roemer, he reneged on the promise with his co-campaign manager Evan Dreyer declaring, “A lot has changed in a week.” In a blistering Denver Post front page story on Saturday, June 11, 2011, written by lead reporter Chuck Plunkett, it showed that Hancock’s claim that he would be “open, honest and transparent” about being a john was, in fact, a lie.
The Denver Post and Channel 9 had requested under the open records act that Police Chief Gerry Whitman produce a copy of the video of Hancock’s car parked in front of the brothel and his entering the premises, which police sources had told Debra Sherman of Channel 9 News existed.
Unscrupulous Law Firm
The Brownstein Law Firm’s managing partner Bruce James, another co-chairman of the Hancock campaign, declared that Hancock had nothing to hide and joined in the request of the police chief. But Channel 7 discovered that immediately after that request, James had surreptitiously sent a second letter in which he instructed Whitman to give all such video evidence secretly to him and not tell the public of that fact.
But suddenly on June 15, 2011, The Denver Post declared it had looked at what many believe were scrubbed records at the Brownstein Law Firm and declared that there was “nothing incriminating” about Hancock in any of the records they looked at, basically absolving Hancock.
Channel 9 refused to run Debra Sherman’s story with a prostitute identifying Hancock as her john at the brothel and Channel 9 allegedly threatened her job if she persisted in trying to promote the story. Sherman was later fired by Channel 9.
The Denver Post And Plunkett Disgraced
Rumors of a coverup by The Denver Post in return for significant financial backing by the City and County of Denver have persisted for years. The city took over all of the Post’s downtown office space relieving The Post of an enormous financial burden. While approximately 90 percent of The Post’s staff have been let go since 2011, Chuck Plunkett has not and, in fact, he was made the Editorial Page Editor, a job some claim he is manifestly unqualified for. He has been referred to by some
Dirty Journalist?: Chuck Plunkett, The Denver Post’s editorial page editor, was caught on tape proving he in fact knew that Mayor Hancock was in all likelihood a john at the Denver Players/Sugar brothel. Plunkett has been accused of covering this fact up and has retained his job at The Denver Post while 90 percent of the staff has been cut.
in the media as a “dirty reporter” who sold out his journalistic scruples in order to retain his job.
When Ewing reappeared in March of this year on the Peter Boyles Show, he brought with him audiotapes of his interaction with Plunkett and Sherman, seeming to confirm that Plu
Caught On Tape: Scottie Ewing appeared on Peter Boyles Show in March and he brought with him, audiotapes of his interaction with Plunkett and Sherman seeming to confirm that Plunkett was indeed a “dirty reporter.”
nkett was indeed a “dirty reporter” who, in fact, knew that Mayor Hancock was in all likelihood a john at the Denver Players/Sugar brothel.
An embarrassed and seemingly humiliated Plunkett wrote a defense of his actions in the March 9, 2018, edition of The Denver Post titled “The so-called Denver Post ‘Handcock’ cover-up” claiming that his and The Post’s actions “were and are defensible.” Few in the media have been convinced by his column with some calling it “sad and in many ways pathetic.”
Re-elections Chances Damaged
With Peter Boyles continuing to cover the story on his radio program, the ongoing revelations in the multiple Hancock scandals along with Mike Roberts at Westword and Tony Kovaleski at Channel 7 News, many political observers believe that Hancock’s re-election chances next spring have been badly damaged. While Hancock may not be forced to resign, it is believed that the high-density developers and others that allegedly control his actions may be looking for another candidate to back. It is believed that their favored choice as a replacement would be City Council President Albus Brooks.
by Mark Smiley | Mar 23, 2018 | Main Articles
by Mark Smiley
The Hilltop neighborhood may be getting a new development on its busiest street, Holly Street, soon. On April 4, 2018, the Denver Planning Board (an 11-person board appointed by Mayor Hancock) will entertain the application for a three-story condominium project to be built to the immediate south of Novo Coffee, High Point Creamery, and Park Burger and north of East Alameda Avenue. The project is
Current View: A current view from Holly Street where the proposed three-story condominium project would go if approved for rezoning. Anna DeWitt and six other homeowners have submitted an application to rezone in order to accommodate a three-story condominium project that some say will stifle traffic even more and create safety issues.
temporarily called Green Flats.
The proposed project will have 27 condominium units, 40 uncovered parking spaces in back, a 20-foot setback from Holly Street, and stand 35 feet high, seven feet higher than the Park Burger business complex. Hilltop is a one square-mile neighborhood bordered by Colorado Boulevard and Holly Street, from 6th Avenue to Alameda Avenue.
Critics say this kind of project does not belong in the neighborhood, especially along Holly Street where 20,000 cars pass by each day according to a 2014 study. This study was done before the building that contains Park Burge
Proposed Development: The proposed site plan calls for three-story brick condominiums spread across .65 acres of land directly north of East Alameda Avenue and south of the building that houses Park Burger.
r was built.
“What happens at Holly and Alameda every day is complete gridlock,” said Denver realtor Denice Reich. “It’s outrageous. A three-story building proposed on a small lot with 27 units and 40 parking spaces on the alley will increase traffic and affect both Hilltop and Crestmoor neighborhoods negatively. The consolidation of seven one-story properties into a three-story high-rise of 27 units is unhealthy. It is like a person gaining 100 pounds in one day. We need another stick building with no lot line and no setbacks like we need a hole in the head.”
Anna DeWitt, a part-time French teacher at North High School, who is leading a group of seven homeowners who own land on the proposed .65-acre parcel, is claiming they are forced to make a decision because of a crack in their sewer system and the general disrepair of their current condos and homes. “We got together, and we decided the best thing we could potentially do is sell to a developer,” said DeWitt. “Because we don’t have the necessary funds to gut the entire place and start from the beginning.”
The current code allows for a two-story condominium building or three-story townhomes which would essentially mean high priced townhomes priced somewhere between $800,000 to $900,000. The applicant, Anna DeWitt, with the assistance of the developer Jason Lewiston, president of Greenius LLC, is asking the planning board to consider allowing a three-story condominium building to be built so she and her neighbors can afford to stay in the Hilltop neighborhood.
These condos would range from one to two bedrooms and one to two bathrooms with anywhere from 740 to 1,200 square feet each. Condos would be priced in the high $300,000s or low $400,000s if the three-story condominium project is completed, and they would have the option to become the first occupants with a special deal afforded to all seven homeowners.
“We as neighbors want to stay in this community and support the middle class and create an affordable home and also completely be energy efficient,” said De
Proponents: Anna DeWitt, left, leads the charge of seven homeowners to sell their properties to Jason Lewiston, right, President of Greenius LLC and rezone the .65 acres to build three-story condominiums.
Witt.
Lewiston proposed a similar project in Boulder called the Boulder Junction Row-houses which would complement Google’s new $130 million campus as residences for their employees. The proposed development sits on 1.85 acres of land at 30th Street near Valmont. It is currently held up in the permitting process with the planning and development department in the City of Boulder.
In Hilltop, there are currently five condominiums and two single family homes on .65 acres of land that would be turned into a 27-unit complex with net zero condos. As zero energy homes (run on solar panels) are becoming more popular, builders and developers are investing in zero energy developments, sometimes referred to as “communities.” And some are building zero energy multi-family apartment buildings and townhouses.
“We’re trying to encourage the neighbors who live here to still live here,” said DeWitt. “We’re hoping to help our environmental issues by creating a net zero building. We want to create something elegant looking. We do not have any desire to completely max out our properties.”
“We’re offering this as a great option,” said Lewiston from Greenius. “If you want something that is appropriate for the neighborhood that looks like gorgeous townhouses from the outside and has moderate sized units, this is the option.”
The alternative, which he gives a 50 percent chance of it being, are four-bedroom townhomes which he says will occupy renters for the most part. No matter what the project becomes, DeWitt and Lewiston know there will be opposition. They already have admitted that Jean-Philippe Failyau, owner of Park Burger, has claimed this will “cast a shadow” over his property.
“There’s an extremely tiny, extraordinarily vocal group of hysterics who say anything you do there is terrible, said Lewiston. “So, we’re going to come out and scream and tear our clothes and shriek at the moon if you want to do it.”
Some opponents came to a neighborhood meeting held on March 21, 2018, at Graland Country Day School. Tomas Hart, Board of Directors of the Cranmer Park/Hilltop Civic Association helped start the meeting indicating they are “expanding circles and trying to get feedback.” Hart has lived near the proposed development for 17 years.
Neighbors that packed the library at Graland were concerned about traffic impact, the new building blocking the sun, increased traffic in the alley behind, and pedestrians being in danger from the increase in residents. John Pratt who lives at 2nd and Holly said, “Nice project, wrong place.”
Other homeowners offered little sympathy with the problems these homeowners face stating that they have spent thousands of dollars maintaining their properties through the years and the seven homeowners should do the same. DeWitt and her fellow applicants, who are mostly school teachers, contest that up until 12 years ago, these properties which were built as rentals between 1953 and 1957, were not maint
Community Meeting: Neighbors attended a community meeting at Graland Country Day School on March 21, 2018, to learn more about the proposed development on Holly Street. They expressed concerns about traffic, safety, and scale of the project.
ained. More importantly, they cannot afford to engage in major repairs with the salaries they make. And, their Homeowners Association does not have enough saved to do the work.
Knowing they have even more of a battle on their horizon, Lewiston is prepared to act fast if their plan is not approved. “If we get rejected on April 4th, watch what I submit on April 5th,” said Lewiston. “If you think this is bad, see what I’m allowed to do by law. You think you’re upset now? Wait until April 5th comes.” That submission would be three-story townhomes on the parcel of land that currently contains the five existing condominiums.
DeWitt does not share the same fighting spirit as Lewiston. “We want to do what’s best for the community, what’s best for Denver,” said DeWitt. “Something that Denver is suffering from is finding affordable homes for the middle class especially in this neighborhood in particular.”
“I want to be invited back, said Lewiston. “I don’t want this to be my last development here. I want people to drive down the street and say that’s gorgeous, that’s a great gateway to Hilltop. It’s a beautiful project. We’re proud to have it here.” He indicates this project will have the appearance of townhomes that are spread across three lots.
“I personally think this would fit so beautifully into our neighborhood,” said DeWitt. “This is elegant townhomes with a classic design.”
Not everyone agrees with this sentiment. “We have beautiful neighborhoods and they’re destroying them within the last two years,” said Reich.
DeWitt and her fellow neighbors have a lot to gain from selling to a developer and having the rezoning approved. They will benefit by not having to pay for major repairs to their property and the sewer line and they have an opportunity to buy brand new condominiums at a reduced price. “All at the expense of the neighborhood,” said Reich.
