Contact: Nessa Mogharreban, Executive Director, Denver Urban Gardens (DUG) [email protected]
Denver, Colo. — [Friday, July 23, 2026] — A beloved Denver community garden that has fed neighbors and built community for more than three decades could be lost this fall unless residents raise $600,000 to purchase the property before it is sold on the open market.
For more than 30 years, Historic Baker Community Garden has provided fresh food, green space, and a gathering place for neighbors in Denver’s Baker neighborhood. Now, the garden’s private landowner, Providence Investment Co., is dissolving its company and liquidating assets following the death of a business partner. Before listing the 7,400-square-foot property at 75 W. Bayaud Ave. publicly, the owners gave DUG the first opportunity to buy it.
The potential sale highlights a growing challenge facing longstanding and beloved community gardens across Denver: most DUG gardens operate on privately owned land and remain vulnerable to redevelopment or changes in ownership.
“The gardeners at Baker aren’t just tending plots; they’re the reason this campaign exists. They’ve asked us to help them fight for this land, and we’re proud to stand behind them,” said Nessa Mogharreban, DUG’s Executive Director.
All 22 garden plots at the site are currently in use, with a waiting list every year. The four other community gardens in the Baker neighborhood are also full, underscoring strong demand for growing space in a part of Denver that has seen rapid development and shrinking open land.
DUG, which supports nearly 200 community garden sites across the Denver metro area, does not usually own the land its gardens sit on. Over the past several months, the organization explored low-interest loans, private investors, and land trusts to fund a purchase, without success. The landowners have also indicated that donating the land is not an option, having covered its property taxes since 1991.
DUG has launched a community-funded capital campaign, led by Baker’s own gardeners, to raise the full $600,000 asking price–based on a third-party valuation–before the property goes to public sale later this fall.
Community members who wish to donate can do so at dug.org/save-baker. Those with connections to potential investors, land trusts, or landowner partners are encouraged to contact Nessa Mogharreban directly at [email protected]
About Denver Urban Gardens
Denver Urban Gardens (DUG) builds and supports community gardens across the Denver metro area, creating green space, growing food access, and strengthening neighborhoods. Learn more at dug.org.
Media Opportunities
- Interviews with Baker Community Garden gardeners
- Interviews with Denver Urban Gardens leadership
- Tours of the garden and visual storytelling opportunities
- Photo and video of the garden, gardeners, and community spaces
