It was with much excitement and a touch of relief that Capitol Hill United Neighborhoods (CHUN) Co-presidents Travis Leiker and Mark Cossin were able to tell those assembled for the registered neighborhood organizations’ (RNO) annual membership meeting that, for the first time since 2013, the RNO ended 2017 with a true profit.
Speaking after the meeting, Leiker said the board “remains optimistic about [CHUN’s] future and this optimism is buoyed by the fact that our financials look as well as they do, considering just 12 months ago, our long-term outlook was very different.”
The meeting was held at Warwick Hotel Jan. 11 and was attended by more than 80 area residents. Budgetary concerns led the agenda. Leiker and Cossin led a high-level budget talk, and then CHUN Treasurer John Riecke took those assembled through a detailed explanation of the 2017 financial position.
“CHUN is in ongoing conversations with our new partners, City Street Investors, to look at and explore what our opportunities are to activate Tears-McFarlane House in a much more meaningful way. We are definitely focused on, as we craft this vision, ensuring that we hold true to our organizational values and do what is best for both CHUN and the community.”
For 2017, CHUN was able to show a profit of $59,464.70, but, according to Leiker and Cossin, while there’s room for excitement, there’s much yet to do. Tears-McFarlane House and community center is in need of about $250,000 in urgent repairs, and, say the co-presidents, the price tag for needed full restoration of the building may be closer to $1,000,000.
CHUN’s recent annual budgetary shortfalls were in part tied to declining revenues from their once signature event, the People’s Fair, an annual summer kickoff festival held in Denver since 1972. The event is now produced by Team Player Productions, a Lower Highlands-area event planning and promotions company responsible for events such as the Breckenridge Wine Classic and Taste of Fort Collins.
CHUN ended 2014 and 2016 in the red $19,072.42 and $44,251.77, respectively. In 2015 it did show a profit of $47,761.03, though that profit was due to the RNO making use of and depleting its cash reserves. Those reserves once totaled more than $200,000.
The return to true profitability in 2017 was due to a shift in focus from the People’s Fair to the Tears-McFarlane House, CHUN’s headquarters at 1290 N. Williams St., as a source of income.
In addition, CHUN’s leadership had to make the decision to scale back on operating costs, including eliminating all full-time staff positions in early 2017 and cutting excess costs wherever possible.
In 2017 CHUN was able to lease offices in the building and recoup $81,200.66. Additionally, CHUN brought in $15,583.54 through special events like their annual wine tasting, $22,409.89 in contributions and $11,611.20 in membership dues. Contributions are classified as individual private donations, monies via Colorado Gives Day, board member contributions and recurring donations. Total profits came to $157,395.75, and total expenses, including $12,676.68 in payroll expenses, came to $97,970.05.
When Leiker and Cossin assumed leadership and began looking at ways to bring the RNO back to profitability, they discovered there was no existing major gift base to make contributions in excess of $500, there was no foundation support, the contingency fund was exhausted and the Tears-McFarlane House was the only potential source of revenue.
Though there’s much to be relieved about, there remains more to do. Tears-McFarlane House needs repairs to its hot water heater (which failed and caused damage), sewer line, ceilings (which leak during heavy snows and rains), fire and burglar alarm systems, electrical systems, gutters and key structural elements, such as brickwork.
According to Leiker and Cossin, as securing a loan for even the basic repairs wasn’t a truly viable option given CHUN’s recent cash flow issues, the RNO is currently working with City Street Investors, a real estate investment and development firm which approached the RNO in April to form a partnership. City Street’s website (citystreetinvestors.com) says the company is “dedicated to creating extraordinary places … through transformative real estate investments,” and the firm can claim in its list of projects Denver’s Union Station, Novo Coffee Shop on 6th Avenue, Lowry Hangar 2 and Eastbridge Town Center in Stapleton.
Leiker and Cossin stressed during the presentation that any partnership with City Street would be just that, a joint venture, and there is no discussion about selling Tears-McFarlane House outright. Any venture would keep CHUN in the house and ensure its presence there going forward. Last fall, the two groups conducted a series of focus groups to help guide a new, reinvigorated space; they are in the process of reviewing this data as it will guide their next steps.
“CHUN is in ongoing conversations with our new partners, City Street Investors, to look at and explore what our opportunities are to activate Tears-McFarlane House in a much more meaningful way,” Leiker says. “We are definitely focused on, as we craft this vision, ensuring that we hold true to our organizational values and do what is best for both CHUN and the community.”
LIFE will continue to cover this story as it develops.
