Sad story out of Denver, CO if you hate when the government steals the fruits of your labor. If you like the government taking people’s private property, then you’ll love this.
Tom’s Diner was a staple of Denver’s dining scene for over 50 years. The owner planned to sell to a developer until a few local residents applied for it to be “Historically Preserved”. For some, this would be a “feel good” story, but in reality, it is the government taking away someone’s lifetime of work.
Tom’s Diner is/was owned by its namesake Tom Messina. He built this business with the sweat of his brow, and it survived 20 years. This is somewhat of a marvel if you know restaurants have one of the highest failure rates for small businesses. So it took a lot of personal sacrifices and hard work to keep the restaurant going.
Tom sought to cash out on his 20+ year investment by selling to a developer. If you’re familiar with Denver’s booming real estate market, there is demand for housing. Prices are expensive (if you live in San Francisco, New York City, etc. we are catching up to you, but you are the outliers).
The deal was about to be inked until residents submitted an application to have the site and building designated as a “Historic Landmark.”
Yes, we understand that many historic locations need to be preserved, especially considering the libs are taking down just about every trace of American History. Tom’s Diner had morphed into a primarily late-night haunt for Denver’s bar scene. Not exactly on the same historical caliber as something like a Civil War Memorial.
However, Messina, the owner of the diner, needs to sell his business to help his family. As he’s quoted in the article, “felt like he’d ‘been kicked in the gut'” after the sale was essentially blocked.
This is theft by the government at its finest – taking your hard work and private property under the guise of historic preservation. Tell us if you think it was worth preserving (the government taking away the owners freedom to sell) or do you side with the business/property owner.
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A lot of info left out of this story, such as is Denver going to buy Tom’s? If so who will run it. What about the name? Don’t miss understand I am not for this kind of crapola.
This is terrible. How can someone bedsides the owner request it to be designated historical?! If the owner wants to sell, that’s his right. It’s not a historic place. But in Denver, 50 years is about as old as any real history is even remembered or acknowledged in this Town.
Denver has become the big city it’s always wanted to be but only in a corrupt, overpriced, crumbling infrastructure, culture-less and thuggish way.
It isn’t a historical property. The building is nice but it ain’t that nice. Owners of the building should be able to sell it to whomever has the cash that the owners want for it. No government should get into this issue.
I would have liked to understand more about why it is considered government stealing. I agree that the owner should be able to do what he wants with his property- including selling. Legally, what defines the terms of government involvement, and in what capacity? What compensation is he entitled to?
I don’t believe that the building is being taken from him – he’s just not allowed to sell or modify it without permission so he’ll be unable to profit from his long term investment.