DENVER — Demolition crews are tearing down the former Denver7 building at 123 Speer Boulevard.
On Thursday, Denver7 got an up-close look at the progress.
The building, which served as the home of Denver7 for decades, is being demolished using conventional methods rather than implosion due to cost considerations, according to Paul Koch, Construction Executive for Milender White.
"It's not as easy as just pressing a button," Koch said. "They're crunching and munching with the teeth and the jaws."
Demo crews expect the entire building to be down in about four weeks.
After that, they'll focus on clearing out the site and priming it for development.
The demolition comes after a challenging period for the property. Asbestos abatement was completed in five months. Since the new owner, Property Market Group (PMG), took over, the site became a target for vandals and was added to Denver's list of derelict and neglected buildings.
"There was a tremendous amount of damage that had been done," said Albus Brooks, vice president of Milender White. "People were in there, you know, taking wiring and casings and sleeping in there and living in there."
Brooks said the issues have since been cleaned up, and the focus is now on the future.
"I'm not going to get into all the details of what this is going to be, but I can let everybody know in this neighborhood that it will be a transformative project," Brooks said.
Construction crews working on the project weren't forthcoming with details about what the transformation will entail.
However, renderings show plans for a mixed-use development called "Society Denver" — a high-rise apartment community with around 400 units and retail space. The project is scheduled for completion in 2027.
Local real estate expert Lori Abbey said redevelopment projects citywide are taking longer than expected due to challenging market conditions.
"It's a perfect storm of not great scenarios all at the same time," Abbey said.
Abbey said the cost of labor and tariffs is impacting the industry, significantly reducing profit margins for developers.
"I have a lot of development projects going on right now, and a lot of them are where maybe we priced the numbers on a 30% profit margin," Abbey said. "We're talking a profit margin of 3% to 5% now."
When asked about solutions for getting projects like Society Denver off the ground quickly, Abbey suggested incentives are needed.
"I think that people there need to be incentives for people to be able to do this development," Abbey said.
While it's too early to tell what will ultimately call this site home or when construction will be complete, the demolition marks a new chapter for this stretch of Speer Blvd.
"This building has stood the test of time for many years," Koch said.
