A vacant building adjacent to Malley Heights Shopping Center will be razed within the next few months to make room for new redevelopment opportunities.

Northglenn City Council unanimously approved a resolution during its April 22 public meeting to open up the demolition bidding process of a 1,335-square-foot building at 11295 Washington St. in an effort to revitalize an area that is already undergoing change.

“The building is not economical for adaptive reuse and should be demolished,” Northglenn Urban Renewal Authority (NURA) Director Debbie Tuttle said during an April 15 study session meeting where the issue was considered. “To get up to code, the bottom line is that we would be spending a lot of money to do that.”

Tuttle said the city acquired the property in January 2004 after the Littleton-based International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers union sold the building for $290,000.

The city then sold the property to NURA for $10 in May 2005, according to Adams County tax assessment records.

The entire property, which is bordered by an Xcel Energy substation to the south and Malley Heights Shopping Center to the north, also includes about 14,000 square-feet of land, which was purchased several years ago by the redevelopment authority for $206,000.

In recent months, Tuttle said two prospective buyers have approached the redevelopment authority to purchase the property for a variety of uses.

One of those buyers, the Knights of Columbus, is seeking to purchase 1.63 acres and build a 10,000 square-foot building on the property.

Another buyer, a private target-shooting club, is seeking to purchase about 1.8 acres of land to build a 15,000 square-foot building and a shooting range for club members, local police departments, civic organizations, such as the Boy Scouts of America, and Adams County 4-H Club.

In all, Tuttle said the target shooting club and indoor shooting range is estimated to generate about $500,000 in sales tax revenue to the city from the purchase of ammunition.

Ward II Councilmember Joe Brown, Ward I Councilmember Carol Dodge and Mayor Joyce Downing said they were in favor of having the target shooting club purchase the property because it would satisfy a need for area residents.

“I think that’s kind of a cool idea because I think that brings people into the city that may not necessarily come here, and I think it may go hand-in-hand if you leave that front area open for some restaurants or other type of retail down the line,” Carol Dodge said during the April 15 study session.

Ward I Councilmember Wayne Dodge, and Ward IV Councilmembers Kim Snetzinger and Gene Wieneke, however, spoke in favor of demolishing the building and leaving the property vacant for at least another year to see how neighboring redevelopment efforts pan out.

“We have a new dynamic coming to Washington (Street) in the form of Walmart — they’re not that far away and there could be an impact since the building has been sitting on the property for a long time,” Wieneke said. “I would not go for the two proposals now because what they can generate for the city is very limited.”

Ward II Councilmember Leslie Carrico agreed.

“I don’t know why we wouldn’t want to leave this open to see what will happen with Malley Heights and how it will be reconfigured, restored, or renovated,” Carrico said. “Since it’s right next to the property, it makes more sense to keep it as a possibility there for revenue rather than place a non-profit or shooting range there.”