A non-profit urban preservation group has announced plans to save one of the city’s most historic and greatly vandalized buildings.
Located at 1840 Grant Street, the Cathedral High School was built in 1921 by the Archdiocese of Denver and designed by well-known regional architect Harry Manning.
The purpose of the building has undergone several changes through the decades, becoming a convent in the 1960s and crisis shelter some two decades later. Falling on hard times in the 2010s, it appeared destined for demolition until the New York-based company GFI Development bought it in 2016.
At the time of that purchase, it was announced that it would be repurposed primarily as a hotel; a plan that never became reality.
Earlier this year, due to its vacant status and declining condition, it was cited for several building violations, with those fines currently totaling well in excess of $120,000.
Now the organization Historic Denver has announced an effort to preserve a structure that is particularly known for its Spanish Renaissance Revival design.
The group is pushing for the City of Denver to pursue the fines against GFI Development in the hope that the company will either move to repair the damage to the building or sell it.
To that end, History Denver has also announced its support of an update to the city’s Neglected and Derelict Buildings regulations allowing for individual fines that could go as high as $5,000 for noncompliance.
For its part, GFI has issued a public statement saying its original repurposing plans for the structure were to turn it into a mixed-use project through a combination of hotel, office, and retail space. The company said the difficulty of obtaining financing during the Covid 19 pandemic, along with a subsequent increase in interest rates, have made the project less feasible.
But for all of that, GFI said it remains committed to what it called the “long term success” of the property and intends to work with city officials in an effort to protect the building from future vandalism.
November 3, 2025
By Garry Boulard
Photo courtesy History Denver
