The long-vacant mansions at 1600 and 1618 E. Colfax Ave. finally came down on Thursday, ending years of neighborhood drama over two crumbling but historic fixtures in Denver’s Wyman Historic District. Their demolition closes a bruising battle between preservation advocates and the property’s owner over safety problems, blight, and whether anyone could realistically afford to bring the century‑old buildings back to life.
By Thursday morning, the teardown was nearly complete, with crews pulling apart the fire‑blackened façades and hauling away debris, according to BusinessDen. The outlet reported that one of the connected buildings was heavily damaged in a March 2024 fire and that the demolition followed months of hearings and appeals.
The mansions, along with the sizable rear lot, belong to Denver developer Pando Holdings, which bought the property for about $3.2 million in 2017. The company once floated a plan to restore the historic homes while adding a seven‑story apartment building behind them, according to Denverite. That proposal stalled as construction costs surged during the pandemic and tenants moved out of the ground‑floor storefronts, leaving the buildings boarded up and increasingly vulnerable to repeated break‑ins…