The public parking garage at the bankrupt Landmark condominium and retail project in Greenwood Village needs about $1.6 million in repairs, according to an engineering study commissioned by the city.
The project’s developer, Zack Davidson, said the Alabama-based contractor that built the garage deviated from the original design. However, the architects that designed the structure said the changes were made on Davidson’s orders.
Davidson’s companies filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in August. Davidson filed for personal bankruptcy in February.
Most of the problems with the garage are the result of water damage, according to the report by LONCO Inc., which was hired by the city in May to assess the condition of the garage.
Davidson said the safety of the garage is not an issue.
“There are no structural issues of any kind,” Davidson said in a voice-mail message. “The issues are strictly water- related and cosmetic.”
However, the engineer’s report to the city said water infiltration into the garage is creating “premature deterioration to certain structural elements” and is causing “safety hazards to users of the garage such as freezing water and spalling (crumbling) concrete.”
Among the problems LONCO found was that an under-slab water drain system was eliminated from the original design, which may have contributed to the slab cracking.
Deric Salser, who was the project manager for James L. Hewlett Architects, the firm that designed the garage, said changes to the garage were made after the city had already signed off on its design.
“According to Zack’s team, our design was too high-quality,” Salser said. “We had designed a Cadillac project, and it was more than the budget could afford, so we moved into dreaded value-engineering of the project.”
Though value-engineering of construction projects is common, the list of items Davidson wanted changed was more extensive than for most projects, Salser said. He said he is unaware of any safety problems.
“The extent of the value-engineering all added up to reducing the quality of the project,” he said. “It produced short-term savings but long-term maintenance.”
During the final stages of construction, the city’s chief building official became concerned about the structural condition of the garage. As a result, the city refused to issue a certificate of occupancy and hired LONCO.
“We’re obviously concerned about it and feel that the repairs should be made,” said Jim Sanderson, Greenwood Village city manager. “It’s something that will get done.”
Meanwhile, because of the issues with the garage and a number of other public improvements that have not been completed properly, the city is withholding Davidson’s half of the roughly $500,000 in tax revenue generated annually from retail sales at the project. The city will not use its portion of the money to pay for the garage, but it will use Davidson’s portion to make other necessary fixes at the development, Sanderson said.
The repairs to the garage will be made, but it’s not yet clear how they will be paid for, said Andrew Miller, who recently was named chief restructuring officer of the project by the U.S. Bankruptcy Court.
While the project is in bankruptcy, repairs made to the garage will be paid for by the Debtor In Possession loan, Miller said. The repairs will be the responsibility of the owner when the project exits bankruptcy, which is expected to occur within 120 days, he said.
“The parking structure is safe,” Miller said. “That’s a big deal. That’s what we were concerned about.”
Margaret Jackson: 303-954-1473 or mjackson@denverpost.com
