Imagine paying upward of $300,000 for a condo in a luxury downtown tower with a spectacular view and not being able to enjoy the balcony — because of noise.

Residents of Spire have complained about noise coming from across the street, apparently from cooling equipment on the roof of the historic Denver Gas & Electric Building.

Paul Riedesel, who handles noise enforcement for the city’s Department of Environmental Health, took readings from balconies at Spire this week and found decibel levels that exceeded allowable limits.

“We found noise levels above what would be allowed, as high as 71 decibels,” Riedesel said. “The maximum would be 60 for that building.”

A reading of 70 decibels is perceived as about twice as loud as 60.

Riedesel visited eight units at Spire — ranging from the 19th to the 30th floors — after receiving “a lot of complaints” from residents of the 42-story building at 14th and Champa streets.

“The residents say the noise seemed to have gotten noticeably worse at the end of June or beginning of July,” Riedesel said. “They said their balcony is not an enjoyable place to be when that equipment is running.

“It’s a big issue for them, and they want the problem solved. But they were very reasonable. Nobody was throwing things at the building across the street.”

Fred Wedemeier and his wife, Patricia, moved into a unit on the 30th floor of Spire in March.

“In our case, the noise level rose probably in late March, early April,” he said. “Some other folks said it has been this way for a year. On our internal bulletin board system, there have been about a dozen complaints about it being really loud.”

Wedemeier said the northeast corner of the building seems to be getting the most noise, and the higher up, the louder it gets.

Creighton Ward, general manager of Spire, said he had urged unhappy condo owners to call the health department.

“I’ve been on the balconies,” Ward said. “I’ve heard it; it’s loud; it’s a nuisance. And I don’t get the idea that these are people who are ultrasensitive to sound.”

Nancy Casados, executive manager of the Gas & Electric Building, said the source of the noise has been traced to an older chiller on the roof that is used by a telecommunications tenant.

“Engineers are working on it now, trying to get the noise levels down,” she said. “We’re working on it diligently to get this resolved immediately.”

Remedies could include replacing or repairing all or part of the cooling units, moving them or putting up sound barriers.

Riedesel said Gas & Electric Building management has been sent a warning letter and that there has been verbal communication.

“It’s going to be up to them to mitigate the noise levels down to what would be legal,” he said. “We don’t dictate how it’s done, just that it is done.”

John Mossman: 303-954-1479, jmossman@denverpost.com