A rezoning application submitted by local TV and radio personality Tom "The Troubleshooter" Martino was introduced as a proposed ordinance to Denver City Council last night. Martino is a managing member of a group of investors called Welton Street Properties, which owns several large parcels at the intersection of Welton Street and Park Avenue West.
City Council bill 219 would rezone the three-acre site from B-8 to B-8-A. This would reduce the amount of parking that any new developments would be required to provide, allow for a mixture of residential and retail uses, and set a maximum height of 200 feet.
Not part of the rezoning effort are the vacant residences owned by Welton Street Properties along Park Avenue West. Last October, the buildings were earning the ire of nearby residents because of their frequent use by homeless people and drug users -- a little place we dubbed "Hotel Martino." While remediation plans submitted to the city by Welton Street Properties promised that the most dilapidated of the structures would be demolished by February, all of the buildings continue to stand.
Justin Henderson of Triton Land Development began assembling the entire site in 2006. The three acres shown to the left are up for rezoning. Plans called for a series of high-density, mixed-use structures based around the public transit provided by the adjacent light-rail lines. On the other side of Park Avenue West, townhome developer Brent Snyder of Welton Place LLC is also seeking a rezoning for 2300-2358 Welton Street from B-8 to MS-3 to allow for less parking and greater density.
City Council will hold public hearings on the proposed re-zonings in the coming weeks.