GLENDALE, Colo. — A Glendale business tackled city officials head-on in a last ditch effort to save their rug store. Authentic Persian and Oriental Rugs, located at 550 South Colorado Boulevard, has been a Glendale business for 25 years.
More than a hundred packed the Glendale City Council Chambers for a public hearing on whether or not to reaffirm the Urban Renewal Authority’s power to exercise eminent domain.
At the end of a hearing that lasted several hours Tuesday night, Glendale City Council voted to give the Urban Renewal Authority the power to use eminent domain.
“We want to be here. This our store. This is our land,” said Kholghy. Kholghy and her family own the store and more than five acres of land it sits on.
The city of Glendale has plans for a $175 million entertainment complex on the banks of Cherry Creek.
Glendale City Council has the authority to use eminent domain to acquire the property and close the business.
“It’s a true entertainment district that will have a lot of bars and restaurants,” said Mike Gross, Glendale 180 project representative.
Gross says the city considered the property blight.
“Do we just let people drive by Colorado Boulevard every day and see it and have a negative reflection on our city?” Gross said. “This really does protet the taxpayer from having to pay more than the land is fairly valued at to cure blight conditions.”
M.A.K Investment Group, LLC– Kholghy and her family’s company– presented two redevelopment plans to the city of Glendale.
The first plan was submitted in 2007, followed by a new plan earlier this year.
M.A.K Investment Group presented a plan that included 445,000 square feet in retail space, 55,000 in entertainment space, and 670,000 in office space. The plan, which also includes a hotel, totaled 2.4 million square feet.
“We were not allowed to build what we wanted to build,” Kholghy said.