Washington Park United Church of Christ owned the building until selling it in February. (Matt Geiger/BusinessDen)
No wrecking balls are coming for the church at 400 S. Williams St. in Wash Park.
Not yet, at least.
Mile High Building & Development owner Ryan Yoffe, who bought the building in February, withdrew his request to knock down the structure late last month.
“We don’t know what we’re going to do with it yet,” Yoffe said. “A lot of stuff is up in the air, to be honest.”
Yoffe, who has built custom homes from Tennyson Street to Cherry Creek, purchased the building and its 0.43-acre lot in February for $4 million. He planned to knock down the 12,000-square-foot church and put houses up in its place.
That’s when a group of preservationists stepped in to put a stop to it.
“At the very least, sacred spaces like the church at 400 S. Williams — which hold cultural and communal significance — deserve careful, informed consideration with meaningful community input before any demolition is approved,” Sarah Goldblatt, a local architect and one of the citizens pushing for preservation, said in an email to BusinessDen last month.
Goldblatt, who did not respond to multiple requests for comment, along with 16 of her peers wrote in a letter to the city in mid-April that they intended to request that the building be made a city landmark — a status that, if approved, would effectively prevent demolition. The group never formally filed an application, instead entering into required negotiations with Yoffe.
The building was constructed in the early 1900s and remodeled by Denver architect William Muchow, whose portfolio includes the Federal Reserve Branch along the 16th Street Mall. Washington Park United Church of Christ, which sold the property to Yoffe, operated there for decades.
Before Yoffe withdrew his request for a demolition permit, the two sides had been working toward an agreement where Yoffe would divide the church property into two lots, building housing on one and selling the main church structure to someone who would preserve it.
Yoffe could reapply later for demolition, and said he hasn’t completely ruled that out.
“It’s still a possibility, but we don’t know how, or when,” he said.
Washington Park United Church of Christ owned the building until selling it in February. (Matt Geiger/BusinessDen)
No wrecking balls are coming for the church at 400 S. Williams St. in Wash Park.
Not yet, at least.
Mile High Building & Development owner Ryan Yoffe, who bought the building in February, withdrew his request to knock down the structure late last month.
“We don’t know what we’re going to do with it yet,” Yoffe said. “A lot of stuff is up in the air, to be honest.”
Yoffe, who has built custom homes from Tennyson Street to Cherry Creek, purchased the building and its 0.43-acre lot in February for $4 million. He planned to knock down the 12,000-square-foot church and put houses up in its place.
That’s when a group of preservationists stepped in to put a stop to it.
“At the very least, sacred spaces like the church at 400 S. Williams — which hold cultural and communal significance — deserve careful, informed consideration with meaningful community input before any demolition is approved,” Sarah Goldblatt, a local architect and one of the citizens pushing for preservation, said in an email to BusinessDen last month.
Goldblatt, who did not respond to multiple requests for comment, along with 16 of her peers wrote in a letter to the city in mid-April that they intended to request that the building be made a city landmark — a status that, if approved, would effectively prevent demolition. The group never formally filed an application, instead entering into required negotiations with Yoffe.
The building was constructed in the early 1900s and remodeled by Denver architect William Muchow, whose portfolio includes the Federal Reserve Branch along the 16th Street Mall. Washington Park United Church of Christ, which sold the property to Yoffe, operated there for decades.
Before Yoffe withdrew his request for a demolition permit, the two sides had been working toward an agreement where Yoffe would divide the church property into two lots, building housing on one and selling the main church structure to someone who would preserve it.
Yoffe could reapply later for demolition, and said he hasn’t completely ruled that out.
“It’s still a possibility, but we don’t know how, or when,” he said.
