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September 22, 2026

A New Owner Bought Park Hill's Most Notorious Strip Mall. Is Gentrification Coming Next?

City Cast Denver

A New Owner Bought Park Hill's Most Notorious Strip Mall. Is Gentrification Coming Next?

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A grocery store or a bar? This is the question at the center of the future of The Holly, a shopping center in Northeast Park Hill. The generational gathering place for Denver’s Black community is currently embroiled in a fight between a landlord and tenants – and it’s exposing a deeper conversation about who a proposed remodel of The Holly is for. Green chile correspondent (and current candidate for House District 5) Justine Sandoval joins host Bree Davies and brand new City Cast Denver creative producer Shane Franklin to talk about why revamping a strip mall is stirring so many emotions. 

Bree mentioned our episode with Julian Rubinstein, author of “The Holly: Five Bullets, One Gun, and the Struggle to Save an American Neighborhood” and Terrance Roberts, the subject of the book. She also talked about our interview with Roberts when he ran for mayor back in 2023.

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If you enjoyed this interview with Kevin Smith, the CEO of Denver Film, learn more here.

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