So that's why it's vacant!

It's a cool building with great terra-cotta architectural detailing. I always wondered why it was just sitting there.

It looks like the family that owns it, won't invest or do anything with it. They suck. From the Denver Post, mentioning fellow blogger, Denver Infill Project [which is a comprehensive site of info on projects Downtown - with pictures, and maps!]:

'Ken Schroeppel, an urban planner whose Web site tracks the downtown Denver development scene, on Thursday launched a "personal campaign" to have the city use its power of eminent domain to redevelop the long-empty Fontius block on the 16th Street Mall.

"How many of you are sick and tired of the Fontius Shoes building at the corner of 16th and Welton sitting there vacant and in disrepair?" he wrote in his blog at Denverinfill.com. "I am. In fact, I'm pretty angry about it."

The building has been vacant for about 20 years, he wrote, apparently because of a dispute involving the Cook family, which owns it. Gary Cook didn't return a call on Thursday.'