Neighbors of a derelict million-dollar home along Denver\u2019s tony East Seventh Avenue are asking a judge to appoint a caretaker for the house or let it be demolished.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe nuisance property is so repugnant to the neighbors and passersby that they throw bags of dog poop into the property\u2019s yard in protest of the property\u2019s conditions,\u201d their Oct. 2 lawsuit explains. \u201cThe owner of the nuisance property rarely removes those bags of poop.\u201d<\/p>\n
On Tuesday, dozens of the colorful bags sprinkled the steps of 2725 E. Seventh Ave. behind a chain-link fence and a sign warning, \u201cNo Dumping. Violators Will Be Prosecuted.\u201d<\/p>\n
City records show that neighbors have filed 28 complaints about the property since 2019, when its owner obtained a permit to renovate the house. Those plans were later abandoned during the pandemic and the house joined Denver\u2019s neglected and derelict building list in 2024.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe caller is reporting an abandoned house in her neighborhood,\u201d states the latest complaint, which the city received Aug. 28. \u201cThe yard is full of dog feces and is neglected.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cCreating stench in the neighborhood,\u201d a resident complained on a hot day in late July.<\/p>\n
The house is owned by Flavia Montecinos, the CEO of Altiplano Ventures, a small investment management firm involved in Peruvian infrastructure projects, according to LinkedIn. She was previously a geoscientist and a natural resources attorney, records show.<\/p>\n
Montecinos, who lives elsewhere in Congress Park, owns several houses in the city. A year before buying the Seventh Avenue house, she paid $410,000 for 250 S. Ogden St. in 2014. It sold it for $800,000 this year. She bought three other houses in 2016 and 2017, two of which she still owns, and one, 2837 S. Adams St., which she bought for $386,000 and sold for $525,000.<\/p>\n
Only the house at 2725 E. Seventh Ave., which she paid $1.1 million for, is listed as derelict.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s under a remedial plan with the City of Denver and we\u2019re about to get a permit \u2014 I was hoping it would come last week but within the next couple of weeks,\u201d Montecinos said by phone Wednesday. \u201cWe\u2019ve been working on getting the property to the permit stage for probably a year and a half and we just had our plans approved in July. We\u2019re getting our contractors lined up.\u201d<\/p>\n
As for the lawsuit, the lawyer told BusinessDen that she will defend against it.<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd I will counterclaim for harassment due to what happened to my house, all of the garbage that gets thrown in there all of the time. Not very civil,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
Her neglected house stands out in the otherwise stately\u00a0East 7th Avenue Historic District. Former Gov. Roy Romer lived two houses down until 2016 and U.S. Sen. Michael Bennet, who may be the next governor, lives just across the street. The district includes several large estates, including Dwight D. Eisenhower\u2019s Summer White House and the Governor\u2019s Mansion.<\/p>\n
Last week\u2019s lawsuit was filed by John Crays of Crays Real Estate Investments, a firm that works with historic properties. He acquired the right to sue Montecinos on behalf of neighbors at 2735 and 2750 E. Seventh in what is known as an assignment of claims in legal parlance.<\/p>\n
\u201cSquatters and homeless individuals have on various occasions taken up residence in the property and its yard,\u201d his lawsuit claims. \u201cThey have made semi-permanent encampments, started fires, leaving large volumes of garbage; they defecate and urinate in the yard; they use the property as a drug den and engage in such activities at all times of day and night.\u201d<\/p>\n
Attached to the lawsuit is a slideshow, created by a neighbor to the east, showing the property\u2019s decline over the past decade from \u201ca well-manicured example of a home in the East 7th Avenue Historic District\u201d in 2015 to \u201can eyesore and a disgrace to this historic district\u201d today.<\/p>\n
\u201cPerhaps the City of Denver would be interested in using this property for a haunted house at Halloween this year?\u201d the slideshow jokes at one point. \u201cIt certainly looks like one!\u201d<\/p>\n
Crays is asking Denver District Judge Bruce Jones to appoint a receiver for the property or require Montecinos to demolish it. Built in 1920 for a dairy executive, the 2,300-square-foot house is in the historic district but is not a historic landmark, according to city records.<\/p>\n