6 MARCH 16-22, 2023 westword.com WESTWORD | MUSIC | CAFE | CULTURE | NIGHT+DAY | NEWS | LETTERS | CONTENTS | Par for the Course A LAWSUIT REVEALS THAT ROBERT SMITH ANTED UP $8 MILLION FOR THE PARK HILL GOLF COURSE DEVELOPMENT. BY CONOR MCCORMIC K- CAVANAGH The defunct Park Hill Golf Course has been a veritable battlefi eld for the past few years. All of the controversy will come to a head on April 4, when Denver voters weigh in on a ballot measure proposing to lift the conser- vation easement that rests on the property, which would clear the way for development. In the meantime, though, the property has been the focus of a couple of lawsuits. And one has dragged a high-profi le investor into the spotlight: Robert Smith. “We took in an investment, a little over $8 million, for the golf course development,” Ty Hubbard, a former employee of the Hol- leran Group, one of the fi rms working on the development project, said in a January 31 deposition. “It was an investment that we got from Robert Smith.” Smith — a Denver native who’s the wealthiest Black man in America, with an estimated net worth of $8 billion, according to Forbes — is the founder, chairman and CEO of Vista Equity Partners, a private eq- uity fi rm. He’s made well-publicized invest- ments in his childhood neighborhood of Five Points. Until now, though, his involvement with the Park Hill Golf Course developers has been under the radar. Eight million dollars would represent a large stake in the project. Westside In- vestment Partners purchased the 155-acre property from the Clayton Trust for $24 million in 2019; the Holleran Group joined the project in the fall of 2020. The Smith revelation appears in a depo- sition for a lawsuit fi led by the Sisters of Color United for Education against West- side and Holleran in May 2022. The Sisters of Color, a Denver organization pro- moting health, wellness and education, had been leasing space in the Park Hill Golf Course clubhouse. But the group, which was founded in 1989, got into a dispute with the developers over its use of the clubhouse, which resulted in a falling out and, ultimately, a lawsuit. “We just want to make sure that people know that sometimes actions speak louder than words,” Adrienna Corrales Lujan, execu- tive director of the Sisters of Color, previ- ously told Westword. “Even as a people of color-run organization, we were still not treated very well.” Westside and Holleran declined to com- ment on the case because of pending litiga- tion. A spokesperson for Smith did not return a request for comment, nor did Hubbard. Westside wants to build a mixed-use development on the property that would include some affordable housing, land for a grocery store and 100 acres of open space. Supporters of its efforts point out that North- east Park Hill, the neighborhood where the golf course is located, has struggled with a lack of investment for decades; this project would bring the exact type of investment that is needed to revitalize the community, they say. It would also bring more housing to a city that needs it...badly. Opponents of the development, led by a group called Save Open Space Denver, which counts Denver City Council at-large candidate Penfi eld Tate and former mayor Wellington Webb as members, argue that the Park Hill Golf Course is an important piece of open space in a rapidly develop- ing city. In fact, while Webb was mayor, the City of Denver placed a conservation easement on the property to prevent devel- opment at the golf course. Save Open Space Denver and other opponents say this land would best serve Denver if the city turned it into a municipal park. The fi ght between these two sides turned particularly acrimonious in the run-up to the November 2021 election, during which voters approved a ballot measure that called for a citywide vote in order to lift the con- servation easement. A competing ballot measure bankrolled by Westside failed; it had sought to exempt the Park Hill Golf Course easement from a vote if the compet- ing proposal passed. In January, Denver City Council referred a measure to the April ballot that proposes to lift the easement, giving voters the fi nal say. Although Smith’s name had not been dragged into this particular fi ght before now, he’s been active in Colorado real estate, buy- ing up acres of property on the grounds of the former Lincoln Hills resort, a vacation mecca for Black families from the 1920s through the mid-1960s that marked its hundredth anniversary in 2022. He’s also supported the investments of Matthew Burkett’s Flyfi sher Group in Five Points. Those investments were once touted as helping out businesses in the heart of Denver’s historic Black commu- nity, but some people have recently argued that the Flyfi sher developments are hurting, not helping, the area. In 2020, Smith admit- ted to his involvement in an “illegal scheme to conceal income and evade millions in taxes by using an offshore trust structure and offshore bank accounts,” according to a Department of Justice announcement. As part of that agreement, which got Smith off the hook from a potential indictment, he agreed to provide informa- tion on a former business partner. He also agreed to pay $139 million in taxes and penalties and abandon $182 million in charitable contribution deductions. In addition to outing Smith as an inves- tor, Hubbard’s deposition includes revela- tory information about how the Holleran Group got involved in the development project. In his testimony, Hubbard de- scribed how Kenneth Ho, the Westside lead on the Park Hill Golf Course project, came to Norman Harris, CEO of the Holleran Group, “with an opportunity looking for a real estate or development company that was of color that could partner with them in some capacity.” Northeast Park Hill has a large Black community. “A cynic would say this is a sham. West- side was just looking for somebody Black to front. They found the Holleran Group,” says Tate. According to Hubbard’s deposition, Hol- leran did not directly put up any money itself, but was paid $3,000 a month by Westside to be involved in the project; Holleran was promised more money if the venture came to fruition. The investment by Smith, whom Hub- bard noted is a cousin of both Harris and another Holleran member, Wayne Vaden, came through a subsidiary of Holleran, ac- cording to the deposition. Email the author at conor.mccormick. [email protected]. NEWS KEEP UP ON DENVER NEWS AT WESTWORD.COM/NEWS The billionaire grew up in Denver, not far from the Park Hill Golf Course. ROBERTSMITH.COM REFERRED QUESTION 2O A “yes” vote for 2O would give the City of Denver the green light to lift a conserva- tion easement resting on the Park Hill Golf Course property, clearing the way for poten- tial development. The development that has been pro- posed by Westside Investment Partners, the fi rm that bought the 155-acre property for $24 million from the Clayton Trust in 2019, calls for a mix of uses, including housing and retail. Some of the housing would be affordable, according to legally binding agreements already signed with the city, and land would be designated for a possible grocery store. Another 100 acres would be set aside as publicly accessible open space. Supporters of the measure say that this would lead to a major investment in Northeast Park Hill, a neighborhood that has struggled with a lack of affordable housing and amenities. A “no” vote would ensure that the conser- vation easement preventing development on the Park Hill Golf Course remains in place. This could lead to several different out- comes. The City of Denver could purchase the property from Westside and create a park on the land. Westside could just return the property to its role as a golf course, or it could go back to the drawing board and propose a development with more community benefi ts in hopes of persuading residents to lift the easement in another vote. The reason that lifting the conservation easement is even subject to a vote is because Save Open Space Denver, an advocacy group, pushed a ballot measure in November 2021 that would require such a vote on any city conservation easement. Westside pushed its own measure that would have exempted the Park Hill Golf Course easement, but it failed while the SOS Denver proposal passed easily. The opponents have been pushing for zero development on the property and would like to see it turned into a municipal park. “Development should occur around the protected Park Hill Golf Course land — not on it,” the group said in a comment submitted for the city voting guide. “People living and working in nearby neighborhoods and all Denver residents will reap the invalu- able health and environmental benefi ts of preserving the Park Hill Golf Course land as a regional park.” — MCCORMICK-CAVANAGH
