Denver officials are asking a judge to put the long-vacant Cathedral High School campus in Uptown under the control of a court-appointed receiver, arguing the historic property has deteriorated into a public-safety hazard. In court filings, the city proposes naming veteran attorney David Cohen to take charge of the roughly 46,000-square-foot site and, if needed, to sell buildings or tear down structures deemed unsafe. The owner says the campus is already under contract to sell, setting up a courtroom clash between enforcement officials and preservation advocates over what happens next.
City asks judge to appoint a receiver
In a lawsuit filed this month, the city asked the court to appoint Cohen and to give the receiver broad authority to secure the grounds, clean up dangerous conditions and market or dispose of the property to a qualified buyer, according to The Denver Post. The filing lays out what officials say are urgent steps needed to protect nearby residents and first responders while a longer-term solution for the troubled campus is worked out.
Inspections, trespassers and fines
Local reporting and preservation groups say the shuttered complex has been repeatedly breached by trespassers and self-styled “urban explorers,” prompting police calls and raising concerns about injuries to people who venture inside. CBS Colorado reports the campus landed on Denver’s Neglected and Derelict Buildings list and that an administrative ruling last year slapped the owner with roughly $140,000 in penalties for failing to adequately secure and maintain the property. Historic Denver and neighborhood groups have labeled the decline “demolition by neglect” and say there is real community interest in saving the landmark rather than watching it rot.
Ownership and stalled redevelopment plans
The Spanish-Renaissance Revival complex at 1840 N. Grant St. was built in 1921 and later served as a convent and as Seton House, a care facility during the AIDS crisis. Decades later, it was repurposed again, this time as artist studios. Construction Reporter and other outlets trace the site’s sale to a New York-based developer in 2016 and detail a series of stalled redevelopment ideas, including a proposed hotel conversion, that never secured financing. Those delays left the buildings vacant and increasingly vulnerable to vandalism and decay.
Legal tug-of-war over who controls the site
The city’s request to install a receiver, first reported by The Denver Post, asks the judge to authorize Cohen to take possession of the campus, lock it down, address unsafe conditions and, if necessary, sell or remove structures considered a threat to public safety. The owner is fighting back in court. As BusinessDen reported, the developer has already sued to overturn the city’s fines and maintains that the property is under contract to sell to a buyer who would restore the historic buildings.
What comes next
A judge will decide whether to appoint Cohen as receiver or allow the ownership and enforcement disputes to continue without that extra layer of court control. If a receiver is installed, Cohen could move quickly to better secure the site, market it for sale or pursue abatement steps that city officials say are needed to safeguard the public. Preservation advocates, for their part, insist that any sale or transfer must come with protections for the complex’s historic features. Historic Denver has argued the structure is still salvageable and that there is community interest in a reuse that focuses on restoration rather than replacement. The outcome will help determine how aggressively Denver uses its newer enforcement tools on neglected historic properties and whether receivership becomes a go-to strategy for stalled landmark projects.
