JS has not paid greater than $2 million in lease to the town because the newspaper makes an attempt to purchase out its long-term lease of the 11-story constructing it as soon as referred to as dwelling.
That determine contains three $650,000-a-month lease funds that haven’t been paid since August, plus tens of hundreds of {dollars} in late charges, in accordance with metropolis paperwork.
Whereas the largely vacant constructing nonetheless bears The Publish’s title, the newspaper hasn’t operated out of the house at 101 W. Colfax Ave. in seven years. The final of mum or dad firm MediaNews Group’s staff moved to workplaces on the paper’s Adams County printing facility in 2020.
The town of Denver purchased the constructing in 2024 and assumed The Publish’s lease.
DP Media Community LLC, the newspaper’s authorized title, has provided to purchase out its lease with the town and hopes to succeed in a mutually useful association, the corporate mentioned in an announcement.
“We stopped occupying this house whereas the constructing was below non-public possession lengthy earlier than the town bought it, so there was by no means any impression we might be utilizing the house when the town made the choice to buy the constructing,” mentioned Marshall Anstandig, normal counsel for The Publish’s mum or dad firm, MediaNews Group.
The lapse in lease funds, first reported by CBS Colorado, comes as Denver battles a funds disaster that has led to layoffs, a hiring freeze and repair cuts. The disaster is because of an estimated income shortfall of $200 million in 2026.
In an emailed assertion, a spokesman for Mayor Mike Johnston mentioned the town is working with The Publish to resolve the problem, and added that officers “intend to get better each penny.”
“Denver pays its money owed on time and DP Media Community ought to do the identical,” spokesman Jon Ewing mentioned.
Laura Swartz, a spokeswoman for Denver’s finance division, mentioned the town pursued the property particularly due to the lease lasting by means of 2029, which made the deal financially possible. A majority of the Metropolis Council authorized the take care of that understanding as properly.
Councilwoman Flor Alvidrez was one in all 4 members to vote towards the deal.
“I didn’t vote for this buy as a result of I knew Denver couldn’t afford it with out assured earnings,” she mentioned. “Now that DP Media has stopped paying lease, our residents are left carrying the burden.”
The roughly 306,000-square-foot constructing opened in 2006 as the bottom of operations for each The Publish and the Rocky Mountain Information, which closed in 2009 — although neither newspaper ever owned it.
The Publish, whose mum or dad firm MediaNews Group is owned by Alden World Capital, moved its operations out of the downtown constructing in a cost-saving transfer between 2016 and 2018. The remaining company staff moved out in early 2020.
In 2024, the Metropolis Council authorized the town’s buy of the constructing from proprietor American Properties for $88.5 million, with plans to transform it right into a courthouse.
The Publish has about 4 years remaining on the grasp lease of the constructing, and likewise subleases house to different entities — together with the town of Denver.
Right now, as downtown Denver’s workplace towers and business areas nonetheless wrestle to get better from the pandemic, the constructing is essentially empty. The town vacated a number of flooring it had subleased from The Publish when that settlement resulted in February, in accordance with the newspaper. It nonetheless subleases different elements of the constructing, as does Enova Worldwide.
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