Months after KMGH Denver 7 left its longtime home at 6th and Speer Boulevard, the building has been home to trespassers and squatters who have left feces, needles and, most recently, graffiti inside and out.

The old eight-sided, five-level building at 123 E. Speer Blvd. greets thousands of pedestrians and motorists, as they move north on Lincoln Street or Speer.

Recently, the top levels of the building’s south and west sides have been tagged with large white, black, and yellow graffiti.

The new property owners, New York-based developer Property Markets Group (PMG) and Greybrook Realty Partners, a Toronto-based private equity and asset management firm, said they’re keeping up security.

Records from the city of Denver and Denver Police Department show otherwise.

The city’s permitting and licensing department fined PMG $455 after it was forced to board up the property last month after trespassers broke into it, and squatters tagged the building with graffiti inside and out.

“This building is currently vacant, but individuals continue to come on the property and set up. There is needles, feces, etc. around,” according to city records. “Last week, we were able to get voluntary compliance, but a few days later, they came back. We have tried calling the leasing/management company to see if they would be able to put up a fence, but the phone number is bad.”

The new owners bought the site for $35 million. The plan to build a 12-story, 600-apartment development called Society Denver. Last month, they filed new development plans with the city’s Community Planning and Development.

The brown, brutalist architecture-styled building, developed in 1969, will be demolished next year.

“PMG submitted Version 6 of the site development plan for the multifamily project to the City in November 2024,” a PMG spokesperson said via email Thursday. “We will be remediating the vandalism in coming days. Demolition of the existing building is anticipated for spring 2025.

“We are committed to maintaining a secure site and being considerate neighbors in the community.”

On Thursday, Denver police said they’ve received no vandalism reports on the property but have issued trespassing citations.

“There was an incident that led to the arrest of 3 individuals for Criminal Trespassing back on November 14,” a  DPD spokesperson said via email.

Inspection reports from the city show possible water damage inside, as well. 

“Today, we were out with DPD Swat and PD to clear the building, and they found 5 people inside of the building and arrested all 5 people for trespassing,” a Nov. 14 inspection report stated. “Today, we had to call Denver Water, as well, to shut the water off as water was filling the basement.”

In July, the KMGH team moved to 2323 Delgany St. in Denver’s River North neighborhood (RiNo). Since August, people have been regularly seen camping out front of the former lobby area on the building’s south side.

Some tried to save the building in 2020 and 2021, after building owner Scripps Media Inc. filed a certificate of non-historic status with the city of Denver. They couldn’t find a buyer who wanted to save the building. They filed a notice with the city that the building deserved landmark status. But in May 2021, Denver’s City Council voted down the landmark status, and the building sale was finalized in July 2021, according to assessor records. 

The new owners, after mediation, vowed to being good neighbors and working with the community. 

“Our team looks forward to continuing to work closely with neighbors and local design partners to deliver a thoughtful, contextual and exciting contribution to the community with inclusive street-level activation,” PMG Managing Director Evan Schapiro told The Denver Gazette in an email after the City Council meeting. “We are all about engaging local businesses, sustainable building and practices, public art and an opportunity to see if we can pay homage to the history of that site.”