Denver, CO
Here's why Denver is turning over a sliver of land for $10 to the University of Denver
The sale has taken more than a quarter century and could get final approval from City Council next month.
Map Artist: Kevin J. Beaty/Denve
Unclaimed land is rare in Denver. So in the middle of massive budget cuts and land acquisition for homelessness solutions, the city selling land for less than takeout for one from a fast food restaurant seems like an odd move at first glance.
When we saw a $10 land deal in District 6 with the University of Denver, we wondered: What’s up with what’s essentially a land giveaway?
For more than a quarter century, a 2,985-square foot narrow rectangular island of land tucked inside the University of Denver campus, has been somewhat improperly owned by the city in a slow-burn error nobody has been in a rush to correct.
“Pretty much everybody thought the University of Denver owned the plot,” explained Christie Delaney, Director of Real Estate for the University of Denver.
The surrounding properties have been in the university’s hands since 1997, but for some long-forgotten bureaucratic reason, 2149 E. Wesley Ave, once part of an alley, was never formally vacated by the city.
The city’s ownership was discovered by university researchers and confirmed by city surveyors.
After several years of negotiations, turnover at the city and a pandemic later, City Council and the mayor will soon be deciding whether to turn the land over to DU.
“If everything goes as planned, this should be on its first reading in the full council next week on [Feb. 26], with a second reading/final vote on March 4,” explained City Council spokesperson Robert Austin in an email.
The sale has been making its way through City Council committees without a hitch, and the sale is far from controversial.
“The Division of Real Estate has concluded that the landlocked parcel should have been vacated as part of the right-of-way vacation of adjoining South Gaylord Street in 1997,” explained Department of Finance spokesperson Joshua Rosenblum. “As a result, the city is not requesting any consideration or compensation for the conveyance.”
So why charge $10? That’s a token amount for the bill of sale. If an actual giveaway made sense, it would be done.
Delaney explained to Denverite that the deal has been in the works for a few years, but that it hasn’t exactly been a priority for either party.
Denver has done a few other things in recent years that topped the to-do list: managing municipal response to COVID-19; big projects at the airport, the National Western Center, the Convention Center and the 16th Street Mall; bringing 1,000 unhoused people inside; and sheltering and aiding more than 38,000 new immigrants.
Why bother with the transfer of ownership at all?
Delaney dubs it “a cleanup transaction.”
Denverites looking for a stellar cup of Joe don’t need to travel far to savor the flavor of excellent coffee.
That’s according to The World’s 100 Best Coffee Shops, a website that rates global hospitality establishments where coffee lovers can find better brew. The website recently announced its 2026 list of the best coffee shops in North America, Central America and the Caribbean and two local companies made the list.
Sweet Bloom Coffee Roasters came in at No. 43, while Queen City Collective Coffee ranked No. 61. Not bad for a list that includes must-hit destinations in places like Guatemala and Costa Rica, which are known for their exports of coffee beans.
The World’s 100 Best Coffee Shops decided the ranking through a mix of nominations and voting by both the public and experts. Places were evaluated based on the quality of coffee served, barista expertise, ambiance, sustainability practices, and innovation among other criteria, according to the website.
Sweet Bloom Coffee Roasters, which came on the scene in 2013, helped usher the so-called fourth wave of coffee locally, which focuses on honoring the beans’ agricultural roots and using techniques like pour-over to extract more flavor from each brew. The company started with a wholesale roastery and retail shop in Lakewood before expanding to Arvada through a merger with another company called Two Rivers, and later to Westminster. In 2022, Food and Wine magazine named Sweet Bloom’s Westminster locale the best coffee shop in Colorado.
Queen City Collective has certainly earned the popular vote among Mile High City coffee drinkers if the company’s expansion is an indication. Since opening its first retail location in 2018, in a spot shared with Novel Strand Brewing Co., Queen City has expanded to seven locations between Denver and surrounding suburbs, including Wheat Ridge and Aurora.
To see the full list of must-hit coffee shops across the globe, visit theworlds100bestcoffeeshops.com. For additional recommendations, check out our list of Colorado’s best coffee shops with picturesque patios and views.
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DENVER (KDVR) — With the mild winter and warm start to spring, beekeepers are seeing swarms earlier in the year and expect the season to be longer than usual.
Gregg McMahan is a dispatcher for the Colorado Swarm Hotline. It’s usually his job to send a beekeeper to collect a swarm when someone calls, but on Sunday afternoon, he decided to handle one himself.
“Nice little swarm,” McMahan said. “It’s tricky, though, because it’s hanging on a fence.”
A warm winter and spring mean swarm season has begun four weeks early.
“Never seen it like this ever,” McMahan said.
This call is to a house on Denver’s east side. When McMahan arrived, he saw a swarm had taken up residence on the fence.
“Absolutely typical, it is on the small side,” McMahan said.
He got to work, first luring them into a box when he spotted a good sign.
“See all these girls, they got their butts up, they’re fanning their wings. That’s telling us the queens in here,” McMahan said.
With the queen in hand, the rest began to follow her into the box.
McMahan said two years ago, he had 400 calls like this. Last year, only 100, the Swarm Hotline was as unpredictable as the weather, which has caused bee activity earlier in the year than ever.
“It makes it hard on the bees, you know? Two days ago, I’m collecting swarms in the snow,” McMahan said.
Rescuing them is integral to Colorado’s ecosystem. McMahan hopes people give a beekeeper a call instead of spraying them or harming them in any other way.
“They do a phenomenal amount of pollination within this state. Not only our native flowers but all the other flowers that people bring in,” McMahan said.
Slowly but surely, the swarm left the fence and moved into the box. McMahan loaded them into his truck to deliver them to their new home.
“Westminster to the Stanley Lake Wildlife Refuge, so these girls will have lakefront property tonight,” he said.
As he wrapped up, McMahan’s phone was buzzing more than the bees. Just another call to start a swarm season, he thinks, could be a long one.
“This year I’m already 20 swarms deep, so I’m expecting way more than 100 this year,” McMahan said.
To have a bee swarm removed for free from your property anywhere statewide, the Swarm Hotline number is 1-844-SPY-BEES.
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