Demo plans for former Camera building causing angst in Boulder

Demolition plans for the former Daily Camera property in downtown Boulder have hit a stumbling block over concerns about a shared wall on the Walnut Street side and the effects from the planned 22-month construction project.

Officials for Denver-based Nichols Partnership, the developers of PearlWest the $110 million, 160,000-square-foot mixed-use project off 11th and Pearl streets say the demolition schedule for the connected buildings at 1048 Pearl St. and 1023 Walnut St. remains on track. However, property owners and occupants of 1033 Walnut St. say they're apprehensive about the direction of those demolition plans.

One of largest items of concern is the enclosing brick wall on the southeast portion of the former Camera property at 1023 Walnut.

Abutting the 1023 Walnut building's bricks to the east are steel beams and a layer of drywall for the building at 1033 Walnut. One wall of a ground-level storage area for 1033 Walnut consists of the exterior wall of the former Daily Camera building and a shared electrical panel.

At AppliedTrust's third-floor office at 1033 Walnut, portions of drywall were cut, exposing the neighboring bricks and as a result of a recent test demolition an open window into what was the Camera's former photo lab.

"We're going to have to move people out of here just so they can keep their sanity," Trent Hein, AppliedTrust's co-founder and co-chief executive officer, said of the demolition plans.

Enclosing wall mitigation was the No. 1 item on a 17-issue list that AppliedTrust and Traeger Enterprises LLC, the 1033 Walnut building's property owners, sent to Nichols Partnership officials April 1.

Other items included a request for a permanent masonry wall, alley access, communication with neighboring tenants such as Amante Coffee and The Parlour salon, and temporary office space for AppliedTrust during the nearly two-year construction period, according to the list.

"We don't have a schedule. ... We need a plan," Hein said. "We absolutely support a development in this part of downtown Boulder, but they need to work with us."

'Resolving every single one of those issues'

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Demo plans for former Camera building causing angst in Boulder