Progress & Preservation...Together

Comments from Sonja Leonard 8-11-99

Mar 17, 2000

Sonja, owner of Leonard Leonard & Associates, has been selling real estate for over 19 years. Sonja shared her perspective on what historic designation does to property values. She stated historical designation protects your investment. She knew of no studies here in Denver, other than Lower Downtown, that researched the impact of historical designation on property values. Lower Downtown has had a positive impact. Nationally, there is no credible research data to show that historic districts reduce property values.

She stated our neighborhood has a high concentration of development that does not fit into the "fine fabric of Washington Park East". Sonja sees WPE as a turn of the century neighborhood that needs to be respected and taken care of. She lives in East 7th Avenue Historic District. Initially she was not in favor of the area being designated. She now believes it is very desirable. She, herself, is a real estate investor and renovator. She has not seen property values dramatically change one way or the other when an area is historically designated. However, what she has experienced is that clients like the idea of buying into a historic district, because they
know what the future of the neighborhood will look like. She sees this as a "strong, strong, selling point". Homes that have been renovated in ways that do not fit the integrity of the house are harder to sell. Sonja stated property values are very negatively impacted when there is an "eyesore" on a block. She has many personal experiences of buyers who won't look at a particular location if it is near a home that doesn't fit in.

According to Sonja, speculators and developers do not like historic districts. They love an unstable market. So they will shy away from areas that are designated, because designation does bring more restrictions that cut into their profit margin. They like a speculative market where they can buy a house that is not in good shape, scrape it, and build the square footage they need to make the profit they want. They are not as concerned about whether the house is sensitive to the neighborhood or if it is considerate to the neighbors next to the house