City issues closure notice for privately owned, off-campus student housing building

BOULDER, Colo. - The City of Boulder today issued a notice of closure for a privately owned, off-campus student housing building, currently known as the Ash House, at 891 12th St. on University Hill, after discovering that the property owner created additional bedrooms per unit without city approval. The result is that the units do not meet code and life-safety requirements.

The notice of closure will result in the temporary displacement of approximately 60 student renters, at least 13 of whom will need to find new permanent housing.

Student residents began to receive notifications this afternoon. Legal services of the University of Colorado Boulder's Off-Campus Housing & Neighborhood Relations Office and Student Legal Services are providing assistance and information about housing resources.

"This is an incredibly unfortunate situation, and we truly regret the inconvenience and disruption for renters," said Brad Mueller, director of Planning & Development Services, which includes the Code Compliance division. "However, safety is always first, and the conditions discovered represent an immediate risk. The building code exists to ensure minimum safety, health and quality of life standards exist for all rental housing. The city determined swift action was needed given the egregious nature of the violations."

The historic structure - known as the Marpa House - was approved over a year ago for residential use with a goal of providing market-rate rental student housing. The property owners, 891 12th St LLC, converted the building into what the city had approved as 16 three-bedroom units during the 2023-2024 school year. Each unit was required to meet current adopted Building Code for all living space.

The city's understanding, based on the applications submitted and approved, were that 48 students would live in the building. In addition, the property owners requested, and were granted, a unique and specific parking program to accommodate this level of occupancy.

During the primary construction itself, the city addressed several zoning violations and issued parking warnings. Each of these was subsequently resolved by the owners. However, last week, the Code Compliance Division of the Planning & Development Service Department was made aware, through a tenant complaint and subsequent investigation, of a new and serious violation of an illegal division of living space. 

Specifically, 15 new bedrooms were constructed without building permits, land use approval or life-safety inspections, evidently in the days immediately after city building inspectors had conducted inspections on the previously allowed and permitted construction. Thirteen of those 15 bedrooms were occupied.

There is no scenario, based on the size of the units, under which the city could have approved a fourth bedroom for the units under current code or zoning. In addition, the owners did not have permits for the electrical work that was conducted when the new bedrooms were added.

No one will be allowed to live at Ash House, and access will be severely limited, until the units can be restored to the approved permitted conditions.

"We anticipate there will be significant de-construction disturbance within a confined space to remedy the situation. There was also unpermitted work that causes immediate safety concerns," Mueller said. "We recognize the upheaval this causes and will be working with the owner to address the dangerous situation as expeditiously as possible."

While this situation unfolded quickly today, the city will also be reviewing other legal remedies it can pursue to hold the property owners accountable for the apparent violations.

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