Denver Approves $68.2 Million Station Contract That Includes Colorado Pharmacy Demolition

The Colorado Pharmacy Building near East Colfax is slated for demolition under a $68,156,065 construction contract Denver City Council approved September 28. Fransen-Pittman Construction’s contract also covers a replacement District 6 police station and garage at nearby 1566 N. Washington St. The price is for the combined work, not demolition alone.

For Colfax-area residents and businesses, the immediate property change is a planned removal, not a new place to shop or live. In an April city announcement republished by Publicnow, Denver proposed workforce housing above ground-floor commercial space on the vacant pharmacy parcel, contingent on finding a developer. The September vote approved station work and demolition; it did not approve that separate development.

The question about the remaining lot

Frank Locantore of the Colfax Avenue Business Improvement District raised a concern about the housing proposal in written testimony dated September 28. He said four affordable-housing developers had told him the small lot would be financially difficult or impossible to develop. He asked the city to add land to the north and give the business district a role in choosing a developer. That assessment is Locantore’s account of those conversations, not a formal finding by the developers.

The city’s competing concern was the station schedule. Denverite reported that a city transportation official said redesign and renewed permitting could put the timetable and bond funding at risk. Council approved the construction contract, leaving the proposed housing and commercial use outside that decision.

The contract runs for 532 days after notice to proceed, but the council record gives no date for that notice, demolition or an opening. What is settled is the contract’s scope: the pharmacy building is to be removed as part of the station project, while any homes or commercial space on its parcel remain a separate proposal.