Denver’s Budget Crisis Deepens Amid $2 Million Rent Default

By Brian Maass | CBS Colorado

The city of Denver’s largest tenant, the leaseholder for the Denver Post building at 101 West Colfax Avenue, stopped making its monthly $650,000 rent payments to the city in August. And with late charges, the leaseholder is now about $2 million behind in rent, according to an exclusive CBS News Colorado investigation.

“It is a large amount of income for the city, and if we cannot recover that, we will have to turn around and find more budget cuts,” said Denver City Councilwoman Sarah Parady.

The city of Denver bought the Denver Post building in early 2024 for $88.5 million, saying the 303,000 square foot building would eventually be needed to house Denver’s court system. The Denver City Council approved the purchase by a 9-4 vote but several council members were skeptical of the price the city was paying, the timing of the purchase and the need for the building.

Lisa Lumley, Denver’s Director of Real Estate, told council members the deal would be revenue neutral as the monthly $650,000 payments from the master leaseholder, DP Media Network LLC, would cover the city’s financing charges.

But in August, the leaseholder, DP Media Network LLC, stopped making its monthly rent payments, according to a notice of default obtained by CBS News. For August, September and October, it has not only not paid rent but has also accrued late charges of $32,477.51 for each month, bringing the total amount owed to just over $2 million in unpaid rent and late fees.

READ THE FULL ARTICLE AT CBS COLORADO