Aurora may spend $2.75 million for site valued at $77,000

“We’ve appraised the property for $4 million when cleaned of asbestos and the building’s demolition,” said Mayor Steve Hogan. “Everyone knows the land is never going to reach its potential with that building on it. And now the city is taking the right steps to redevelop the area.”
Yet some members of the Aurora City Council are calling the deal a “bailout” of Buchwald, a politically influential owner who has held the land vacant since 1984.

Michael Sheldon, the attorney representing Buchwald, said he hired an appraiser who felt the land, cleaned and vacant, would be worth more than $4 million.

Buchwald and Sheldon wield influence in the metro area. Buchwald is a director of MDC Holdings in Denver, the parent of Richmond American Homes. This year, he also served as president of eight other Denver companies, two in Greenwood Village and three in Florida.”

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Lee, Kurtis and David Olinger. Denver Post 10 December 2012.

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