Junior Achievement will sell its national headquarters building in southwestern Colorado Springs but plans to remain in the city in smaller offices, the nonprofit announced Tuesday.
The house at 411 W. Bijou St. that also includes a columbarium. Pam Zubeck
Members of the Bijou Community, a tight-knit peace and justice group that provided housing to the poor for decades, is seeking an answer to its question about regaining control of one of its houses as posed several weeks ago.
It also asks Ithaka Land, formerly Ithaka Land Trust, to change its name again to more accurately reflect a change in mission from housing the poor to providing transitional housing to help low-income people become independent.
Anjuli Kapoor Pam Zubeck
The issues arose after the
Indypublished its Jan. 27 coverstory revealing the land trust sold half its properties to one developer without accepting bids or obtaining appraisals, sold some below market value as reported by the El Paso County Assessor s Office, and then floated loans to that developer, a Denver area firefighter.
When Bill Sulzman, 82, noticed people circling his small cottage carrying tape measures, cameras and clipboards last summer and fall, he knew something was up.
He didnât know then, but heâs since found out, that his home for 32 years, for which he pays nominal rent, was sold in October without his knowledge.
That sale and others are part of a plan to liquidate many of Ithaka Land Trustâs roughly two dozen rental properties. Most were built 100 or more years ago and were acquired through donations and purchases financed by nuns and the city.
Over the years, though, Ithakaâs maintenance bills grew while rents barely budged. With limited operating funds, the nonprofit has cooked up a plan to monetize the mostly Westside properties so it can fix up some of its rentals and build a low-income housing project southeast of downtown.
A Colorado Springs-based Christian organization has listed for sale its national headquarters, which the Christian and Missionary Alliance built 31 years ago at 8595 Explorer Drive in Colorado Springs, and