WESTMINSTER —Julie Olivas has owned the only eatery on the block for years, but plans for the recently demolished buildings down the street may change that.
Olivas opened Original Heavenly Cakes Bakery and Café at 7305 Lowell Blvd. five years ago, and two buildings down the block from her have been vacant since 2013.
However, demolition of those buildings on the west side of Lowell Boulevard (between West 72nd and 73rd avenues) was recently completed, and the plots are being prepared for a major facelift.
“We’re excited to see the redevelopment,” said Olivas.
She joked that she enjoys being the only restaurant in the community and hopes that boutiques or art galleries come in.
“Art galleries would be amazing since this area has been turning into an art district,” said Olivas.
Olivas’ son, Jake Olivas, is the project manager on the demolition project with his company, American Demolition.
The company previously conducted the demolitions for the old Westminster Mall, the Fort Collins Mall, the Chapel Hill Mall in Colorado Springs, and several projects with the City and County of Denver.
The Lowell project took about two weeks, but it wasn’t necessarily an easy job for the team.
Two buildings were demolished, with one building that remained standing in the middle.
“We separated the buildings 5 feet on either side of the structure using hand demolition, and then slowly had to take it down, making sure not to damage the standing building,” explained Jake Olivas.
The structure that avoided the demolition is commonly known as the Penguin Building. Is is used primarily for martial arts classes, and the owner did not want to sell.
City engineer Dave Dowling commended American Demolition for tearing down the structures without damaging the other buildings.
“It was quite a feat for the contractor to perform the demolitions without disturbing the Penguin Building or the Germinal Stage buildings,” said Dowling. “There were some physical connections between these structures, so much of the work had to be performed by hand.”
Another building that was not knocked down is the building on the corner of 73rd and Lowell. It’s currently owned by the city and is being used by the Germinal Stage Group, so demolition is being delayed for now, said Dowling.
The $53,000 demolition project has been in the works for a while.
“The buildings that have been demolished were purchased by the city over the past couple of years,” said Dowling. “Those buildings were mostly vacant, and vagrancy was becoming quite a problem.”
When the buildings were purchased in 2012, it was always the intent to demolish them, said Dowling. Delays were caused by tenants moving out, environmental inspections of the structures, and additional structural inspections of the preserved Penguin Building to avoid damage.
The leveled ground is now ready for future plans, according to Westminster’s planning manager, Mac Cummins.
“There’s a developer in Minneapolis who is looking to build residential over retail,” said Cummins.
City staff has encouraged the developers to look into building restaurants, since that’s what the residents in the surrounding neighborhoods have requested.
Though only one-third of the way into the design phase, the tentative plan is to build two three-story buildings.
The future development of the site will be processed as a rezoning, and developers will be required to submit development plans.
As part of the review process, the plans will be presented to citizens at a community meeting and at public hearings prior to reaching the city planning commission and the Westminster City Council.
No matter what becomes of the space, Cummins is confident that the future businesses will be an asset to the community: “It will be great for Westminster. It will allow for reinvestment in the area and the community.”
Catherine Elsby, celsby@denverpost.com
