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10 weeks free and an Ikon Pass: Denver landlords ramp up concessions
The easiest way to get free stuff in Denver right now is to lease a new apartment.
“In the Denver market, we are certainly offering concessions, and I would expect most landlords are,” said Frank Campise, a Chicago developer who owns about 15 apartment buildings throughout the metro area.
Apartment landlords facing the financial fallout from too much supply
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The region’s multifamily market has softened amid a historic increase in supply at the same time that demand has softened because of declining job growth. According to the Apartment Association of Metro Denver, the vacancy rate for Denver itself is 7%, with an average rent of $1,849 a month. That’s the lowest rent since the start of 2022.
The picture is slightly rosier for the broader seven-county metro area, where the vacancy rate is 6.4%, according to the association.
A certain period of free rent is the most common concession. Campise said that, to keep buildings full, lots of landlords are offering one to two months free.
“In 2023, I think that’s when the market started to implode,” he said. “We would have not had any concessions in ’23. Not only would we have not had any concessions, but the top-line rent would have been 15% higher.”
And two months isn’t the ceiling. Both The Alder, a new building in Parker, and The Russell, in Olde Town Arvada, are offering up to 10 weeks free on leases with 12-month terms or longer, according to their websites.
Bill James and Eric Karnes, meanwhile, track Denver’s apartment pipeline for local research firm JRES Intelica CRE. Their data shows about 17,000 new units completed in the third quarter across the entire metro area. In comparison, only 5,000 units have started construction through the first three quarters of the year.
“We get into a recession, and all these new projects keep coming. … Boy, that vacancy rate could shoot up over 10%,” Karnes said.
The pair noted that landlords are also tacking on extra goodies. The Adler offers a $750 gift card if a tenant leases within 48 hours of touring the apartment. And at The Russell, move in by the end of November and you get a free Epic or Ikon ski pass.
“And you can tell the lender – ‘It’s marketing!’” Karnes said.
Sky-high concessions are most commonly found in new buildings still in lease-up. The owners often have a construction loan with a deadline and are in a race to get units filled before refinancing. They claim concession losses as a marketing expense, which allows their books to show they are paid full-price rent, even if the effective rent that a tenant is paying is less.
Managers of older apartments can take a different approach to stay competitive.
Denver-based Cornerstone Apartments manages 7,500 units, most in older buildings in central Denver, for a host of smaller landlords.
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“We still have concessions throughout our portfolio, but what we’re doing is we’ve just reduced our rents drastically,” CEO Charlie Hogan said.
Hogan said he has 17 apartments going for less than $1,000 a month that would typically be between $1,100 and $1,200.
That tact kept his vacancy rate steady at 6.1%, lower than Denver’s average, but still one of the highest levels he’s had in his 20 years at Cornerstone.
Hogan points to Denver’s sluggish job growth as a major driver of the slowdown.
“You got 41% [office] vacancy rate downtown,” he said. “That’s my renter.”
Oil exec sells Avon ski-in mansion for $25M to 84 Lumber owner
Joe Jaggers didn’t expect Little Brave Lodge in Avon’s exclusive Bachelor Gulch enclave to sell so quickly.
He listed the 10,000-square-foot ski-in, ski-out mansion on nearly 9 acres at the top of a mountain road for $24.9 million Aug. 21. It went under contract Sept. 5 and closed at its list price Oct. 7.
The property in the 400 block of Horizon Drive was bought by Maggie Hardy, owner of both 84 Lumber Co., a Pennsylvania-based building materials retailer, and Nemacolin Woodlands Resort in the southwest part of that state.
Hardy previously bought a similar ski-in, ski-out property in Aspen for $17.4 million in 2019. She sold it for $26 million in May 2024, about a year after listing it for $41 million.
When Jaggers sold a home in Breckenridge previously, it took three seasons.
Inside Little Brave Lodge in Avon. (Photos courtesy of Macky Bowlin with 360 Productions via BusinessDen)“This one went so quickly it made my head spin,” said Jaggers, the founder and former CEO of Jagged Peak Energy, an oil and gas firm.
Jaggers paid $16 million for Little Brave Lodge, which provides direct access to the Little Brave ski run, and spent $3 million on improvements.
Those projects included widening the driveway and adding more parking and solar-powered heat to prevent icing.
He also added a gate to improve privacy, a DaVinci roof, which meets the state’s new fire mitigation requirements, and a custom spa-hot tub that Jaggers calls “a spool.”
The mansion showcases its location through soaring ceilings and expansive windows that frame views of the Gore Range. The open concept great room boasts a floor-to-ceiling fireplace, two dining areas and a gourmet kitchen.
Jaggers, who will turn 72 next month, said it’s time to hang up his skis because he’s become a tentative skier.
“It’s only a matter of time before the cold, snow and ice catch up with me,” he said.
He plans to continue living in Denver and buy a second home in Hawaii.
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Anna Menz with LIV Sotheby’s International Realty represented both the seller and buyer in the transaction. This is the third time she’s been involved in selling the property.
Bachelor Gulch, one of Beaver Creek’s three base areas, is home to 500 residents. The $24.9 million sale is a record high for properties in the enclave.
Denver developer plans 15-unit mixed-use project in Villa Park neighborhood
Niles Emerick is looking to squeeze 15 new residences and a little retail where a single-family home currently stands.
“It is still very preliminary, but we want to understand how many units we can actually fit in there with the updates to parking, the modernized parking requirements,” Emerick said, referencing Denver’s recent ordinance eliminating parking minimums.
Emerick submitted plans to Denver last month for a mixed-use development on an 0.29-acre lot at 992 Knox Court in Denver’s Villa Park neighborhood.
A small 920-square-foot retail operation for the corner of 10th Avenue and Knox is planned, with a pair of apartments above it. A coffee shop or bagel joint is contemplated for the space, which would complement the existing retail on the north side of the intersection.
Townhomes would front the streets with “loft-style two-level” buildings in between and in the rear, designed for someone to have a shop and a home all in one space. Emerick hopes to have some of the units be for sale, too. In total, the residences will span about 13,300 square feet, with a courtyard in the middle of the lot.
“There is just a need for more variety for more housing options, especially in that part of the neighborhood,” he said.
The plans have been in the works for nearly a decade. Emerick purchased the lot in 2016 for $315,000, records show. Longtime Villa Park residents will recall it as the house prominently advertising mountain land for sale.
“I had been living in the area, just across the tracks at 12th and Quitman, so I drove by that property all the time,” Emerick said. Every time I drove by it, I thought, ‘Gosh this could be such an important piece of the neighborhood.’”
The previous owners were longtime residents. They passed away and their kids took control of the property. Emerick first connected with them at a yard sale out front.
He began planning the site’s future almost immediately after purchasing it, conducting neighborhood meetings and working with the city on incorporating the lot into its West Area Plan.
But everything came to a halt during the pandemic.
“That put a long pause on things,” Emerick said.
In the years after 2020, he returned to the drawing board, finally signing an agreement with Denver’s Department of Housing and Sustainability earlier this year that income-restrict at least 10% of the units onsite.
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Next, he’ll have to rezone the property, which is currently reserved for a single-family residence. As that process works itself out, Emerick will finalize the site plan with the city.
It will be just his second ground-up development. The other was a seven-unit townhome project in Denver’s Sunnyside neighborhood. He told BusinessDen he takes inspiration from the Zeppelins, a local development family that built the Source Hotel and Taxi projects in RiNo, and Paul Tamburello, the developer and owner of Little Man Ice Cream.
Emerick is building the project with his longtime friend Stephen McCullough. He moved to Colorado in 2005, first living in Boulder before heading down to Denver for a career in finance.
“I don’t even know if I can claim the word developer,” Emerick said.
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Former telecom CEO sells $8.5M Castle Pines mansion, tops Denver-area home sales for September
Former telecom executive Larissa Herda and her husband Stephen sold their renovated home atop the cliffs of Castle Pines for $8.5 million in September, taking the top spot among local home sales.
The Herdas, who bought the 8,240-square-foot mansion at 615 Cliffgate Lane for $2.1 million in 2006, listed it for $8.8 million on Aug. 22. It went under contract on Aug. 29 and closed for $8.5 million on Sept. 15.
Larissa Herda was the leader of TW Telecom when it merged with Level 3 in 2014.
Stan Kniss with Fantastic Frank Colorado represented the Herdas. Justin Grimm, with Mycasa, represented the buyer, JTCO Holdings LLC, a corporation registered in the state of Delaware.
The mansion blends contemporary architecture with Colorado’s natural beauty. It sits on 1.78 acres and features an infinity-edge pool, expansive patios, and a 578-square-foot pavilion.
Inside, it boasts five bedrooms, five bathrooms, two offices and luxurious amenities, including a resort-style primary suite with heated floors and a jetted tub.
The lower level provides additional living space, featuring a second kitchen and family room.
Based on MLS data, here are the next four most expensive home sales in the Denver area for September:
(Courtesy REcolorado)The home at 5470 S. Highline Circle in Greenwood Village. (Courtesy REcolorado)5470 S. Highline Circle in Greenwood Village: $7.1 million
Listing agent: Jeffrey Tomlan with Tomlan Realty
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Buyer’s agent: Jeffrey Tomlan with Tomlan Realty
Details: Sellers Karen Mcintosh Robinson and Patrick Joseph Smith bought the 12,300-square-foot Nantucket-style mansion located in The Preserve at Greenwood Village for $6.7 million in 2022.
They listed it for $8.5 million on June 5 and removed it from the market on July 10. It went under contract on Sept. 15, and buyer Jon Strom, president of Contract Engineering Services, closed on Sept. 19.
The six-bedroom, nine-bath home features soaring ceilings and detailed millwork throughout. The main floor includes an updated kitchen, two living rooms, and a primary bedroom with two massive walk-in closets and a spa-like bath suite.
(Courtesy Greg Muntz with Muntz Studios)The home at 5 Mockingbird Lane. (Courtesy Greg Muntz with Muntz Studios)5 Mockingbird Lane in Cherry Hills Village: $6.4 million
Listing agent: Delroy Gill with LIV Sotheby’s International Realty
Buyer’s agent: Delroy Gill with LIV Sotheby’s International Realty
Details: Dealin’ Doug Moreland sold a Cherry Hills Village mansion for $6.4 million on Sept. 10. Moreland took ownership of the property after former Broncos quarterback Preston Parsons failed to repay his loan.
Moreland listed the 15,500-square-foot home, which has seven bedrooms and 10 bathrooms, in March for $7.7 million. La Rocca Revocable Trust purchased the mansion.
The mansion, built in 2002, features a gourmet kitchen with two granite islands and a primary suite that includes a private balcony. The basement has a gym, wine cellar, and media room. The exterior features a pool, outdoor kitchen, fireplaces, and a guest house that could serve as a mother-in-law suite or an au pair suite.
(Courtesy REcolorado)The home at 860 Diamond Ridge Circle in Castle Rock. (Courtesy REcolorado)860 Diamond Ridge Circle in Castle Rock: $5.4 million
Listing agent: Edie Marks with Kentwood Real Estate DTC
Buyer’s agent: Zina Davis with LIV Sotheby’s International Realty
Details: Located on 1.3 acres in Diamond Ridge Estates, this 9,500-square-foot mansion includes six bedrooms and eight baths and provides an unobstructed panoramic view from the Front Range to Pikes Peak.
It includes soaring ceilings and a 12-foot walkout basement.
Sellers Kevin and Tammie Hulse purchased the property for $525,000 in 2020. Kevin Hulse is the CEO at Great Plains Power. The Hulses built the home in 2023 and listed it for $5.6 million on May 30.
It went under contract on Aug. 1. Homebody B&B LLC, a Delaware-registered entity, closed on the sale on Sept. 11.
(Courtesy REcolorado)The home at 2495 S. Saint Paul St. in Denver. (Courtesy REcolorado)2495 S. Saint Paul St. in Denver: $5 million
Listing agent: Shannon Roberts with MJS Development
Buyer’s agent: Luke Corbitt with Slifer Smith and Frampton Real Estate
Details: MJS Properties LLC, a design-build group offering luxury custom and semi-custom homes in Denver’s most exclusive neighborhoods, purchased the property in Observatory Park for $1.3 million in 2023.
The company listed the then-under-construction home for $5 million on April 23. It went under contract that day, and the company completed the 6,854-square-foot, five-bedroom, six-bath home this summer.
The sale to UpNxt 25 Holdings LLC, a Colorado company formed in August, closed on Sept. 12.
The home, inspired by Mediterranean design, features exposed beams, wide-plank hardwood flooring, limestone fireplaces, and artisanal metalwork.
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Denver area home buyers want houses, not condos or townhomes
Buyers in the Denver metro continue to favor detached homes, with September sales in that category up 7% year-over-year, while sales of attached homes fell by 17%.
In the detached home market, there are 9,001 active listings year-to-date, according to the Denver Metro Association of Realtors’ monthly report.
This figure represents an 18% increase from 7,646 in 2024, a 66% increase from 5,435 in 2023, a 55% increase from 5,798 in 2022, and a remarkable 221% increase from 2,803 in 2021.
The median days on the market for detached properties is 18 days, which marks a significant 350% rise from 4 days in 2021.
In the attached homes sector, there are 4,073 active listings, reflecting a 17% increase from 3,469 in 2024, an 86% increase from 2,194 in 2023, a 116% increase from 1,885 in 2022, and a striking 249% increase from 1,168 in 2021.
The median days on the market for attached homes is 32 days, a substantial 540% increase from 5 days in 2021.
“Attached homes continue to see challenges in the increased costs of insurance and community maintenance, resulting in higher-than-historically-typical community dues,” said Amanda Snitker, chair of the DMAR market trends committee.
Colleen Covell, an agent with Compass-Denver and a member of the market trends committee, said September typically creates a surge in sales activity.
In the $1 million-plus home category, detached homes saw a slight increase in activity last month. But attached homes continued to experience dismal activity.
“Both detached and attached homes in this segment saw a surge in new listings hitting the market, up 19.18% and 24.39%, respectively, from August,” Covell said.
“But that is where the similarities ended. For detached homes over $1 million, pending sales increased by 5.23% month-over-month, while the number of attached contracts dropped by 7.69%. Total sales volume for detached homes year-to-date was up over 7% from this time last year, while sales volume for attached homes over the same period was down almost 25%.”
The most notable difference in months of inventory appears in the $1 million-plus segment, which typically has the highest levels due to a smaller pool of buyers.
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In September, detached homes had 4 months of inventory for properties priced between $1 million and $1.49 million, and 7 months of inventory for those priced over $2 million.
In comparison, attached homes showed even higher inventory levels: 21 months for those priced between $1.5 million and $1.99 million, and 30 months for those over $2 million.
“Sellers in this extreme buyer’s market need to be realistic about pricing as well as exceptionally patient,” she said.
The news and editorial staffs of The Denver Post had no role in this post’s preparation.
ZS Capital Partners acquires Centennial Technology Center for $14.6 million
The Centennial Technology Center, a nearly 88,000-square-foot Class A small-bay industrial and R&D property in Centennial, has been acquired by ZS Capital Partners, a Denver-based real estate investment firm, for $14.6 million.
The transaction marks ZS’s ninth investment in Colorado and its largest acquisition since 2022.
“This acquisition is a strong reflection of our growth and disciplined investment strategy,” said Derek Conn, a founder of ZS Capital Partners.
“ZS continues to focus on high-quality, functional assets that offer both stability and opportunity for value creation. Centennial Technology Center aligns perfectly with that vision and demonstrates our continued confidence in Colorado’s small-bay industrial sector.”
On 7.66 acres at 7442 and 7472 S. Tucson Way, the property consists of two highly functional buildings featuring nine dock-high doors, 11 drive-in doors, wet sprinkler systems, 14-foot clear heights and a dual-loading configuration.
The Centennial Technology Center was built in 2000 and is currently 68% leased to a mix of health care and professional services businesses.
ZS plans to complete speculative improvements and exterior upgrades to reposition the remaining 27,923-square-foot vacancy and attract new tenants.
JLL Managing Director Larry Thiel, Senior Director Sean Whitney, senior managing directors Dave Lee and Jason Addlesperger and Vice President Philip Lee, handled the disposition of the property. The team will continue to represent ZS in leasing .
“CTC is one of the premier industrial and R&D projects in the Southeast Denver submarket,” Dave Lee of JLL said.
“The property offers exceptional flexibility, with units ranging from 5,506 to 27,923 square feet in a well-designed, easily accessible location. The new ownership is committed to delivering move-in-ready spec suites and brings deep experience in this product type.”
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The property is at one of the region’s most supply-constrained industrial corridors, according to a news release about the sale. It also has access to Interstate 25, Interstate 225 and E-470, as well as proximity to housing in Cherry Hills Village, Greenwood Village and Highlands Ranch.
ZS Capital Partners is a real estate investment firm that sources, acquires, operates and develops industrial, multifamily, retail and mixed-use assets in Denver and surrounding sub-markets.
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Downtown Development Authority doesn’t have to pay property taxes, but will if it buys Denver Pavilions
Update 7:20 a.m. Oct. 9, 2025: This story has been corrected by BusinessDen to reflect information about the planned payment in lieu of taxes.
While Denver’s Downtown Development Authority is exempt from paying property taxes, it will voluntarily pay an amount equal to the annual tax bill if it purchases the Denver Pavilions mall.
Bill Mosher, the city’s chief projects officer, said Wednesday that he included a reference to a planned “payment in lieu of taxes” in the pending purchase agreement for the 350,000-square-foot mall, which still needs to be approved by the City Council.
Eliminating the property’s tax bill would provide an unfair advantage to the mall’s tenants, Mosher said. At Pavilions, like at most commercial buildings, tenants are responsible for a share of their landlord’s building costs, including property taxes.
“I didn’t want some tenants on 16th Street to have an unfair advantage over other tenants on 16th Street,” Mosher said, referring to retailers and restaurants near but outside the mall.
Mosher is also CEO of the quasi-governmental entity that developed and owns the Hyatt Regency by the Colorado Convention Center. That hotel also makes a payment in lieu of taxes so that it doesn’t get an unfair advantage compared to other hotels, he said.
Earlier on Wednesday, citing a spokeswoman from the city’s finance department, BusinessDen reported that the the city and Denver Public Schools — the latter receives about two-thirds of property tax collections — would collect no property taxes following the DDA’s purchase of the Pavilions and two parking lots behind it due to the DDA being a tax-exempt entity.
That remains true for the parking lots, which flank Glenarm Place along 15th Street. Mosher said there’s no plan to do a payment in lieu of taxes there because he doesn’t see it creating an unfair advantage.
But the planned payment in lieu of taxes means Denver and its school system will still get revenue from Pavilions.
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The DDA has agreed to pay $37 million for the Pavilions, which is owned by Denver-based Gart Properties, and $23 million for the parking lots, which are owned by New York-based Brookfield Properties.
This year, the Pavilions had a property tax bill of nearly $1.7 million, not counting an additional $95,000 that city records describe as “liens/fees.”
And Denver levied property taxes of about $475,000 against Brookfield for the two parking lots, records show.
Property tax bills depend in part on what a county assessor determines a property is worth. The assessor for Denver, which is both a city and a county, currently values the parcels that make up the Pavilions at a combined $59 million, records show — far more than the DDA’s purchase price. The parking lots behind the mall are valued at just shy of $18 million, some $5 million less than what the DDA has agreed to pay.
Gart Properties appealed the Pavilions valuation, Mosher said.
Mosher previously said that the DDA has opted to buy the Pavilions rather than see it go back to a lender due to Gart defaulting on an $85 million loan.
Read more from our partner, BusinessDen.
Denver neighbors sue owner of neglected ‘poop protest’ house in Congress Park
Neighbors of a derelict million-dollar home along Denver’s tony East Seventh Avenue are asking a judge to appoint a caretaker for the house or let it be demolished.
“The nuisance property is so repugnant to the neighbors and passersby that they throw bags of dog poop into the property’s yard in protest of the property’s conditions,” their Oct. 2 lawsuit explains. “The owner of the nuisance property rarely removes those bags of poop.”
On Tuesday, dozens of the colorful bags sprinkled the steps of 2725 E. Seventh Ave. behind a chain-link fence and a sign warning, “No Dumping. Violators Will Be Prosecuted.”
City records show that neighbors have filed 28 complaints about the property since 2019, when its owner obtained a permit to renovate the house. Those plans were later abandoned during the pandemic and the house joined Denver’s neglected and derelict building list in 2024.
“The caller is reporting an abandoned house in her neighborhood,” states the latest complaint, which the city received Aug. 28. “The yard is full of dog feces and is neglected.”
“Creating stench in the neighborhood,” a resident complained on a hot day in late July.
The house is owned by Flavia Montecinos, the CEO of Altiplano Ventures, a small investment management firm involved in Peruvian infrastructure projects, according to LinkedIn. She was previously a geoscientist and a natural resources attorney, records show.
Montecinos, who lives elsewhere in Congress Park, owns several houses in the city. A year before buying the Seventh Avenue house, she paid $410,000 for 250 S. Ogden St. in 2014. It sold it for $800,000 this year. She bought three other houses in 2016 and 2017, two of which she still owns, and one, 2837 S. Adams St., which she bought for $386,000 and sold for $525,000.
Only the house at 2725 E. Seventh Ave., which she paid $1.1 million for, is listed as derelict.
“It’s under a remedial plan with the City of Denver and we’re about to get a permit — I was hoping it would come last week but within the next couple of weeks,” Montecinos said by phone Wednesday. “We’ve been working on getting the property to the permit stage for probably a year and a half and we just had our plans approved in July. We’re getting our contractors lined up.”
As for the lawsuit, the lawyer told BusinessDen that she will defend against it.
“And I will counterclaim for harassment due to what happened to my house, all of the garbage that gets thrown in there all of the time. Not very civil,” she said.
Her neglected house stands out in the otherwise stately East 7th Avenue Historic District. Former Gov. Roy Romer lived two houses down until 2016 and U.S. Sen. Michael Bennet, who may be the next governor, lives just across the street. The district includes several large estates, including Dwight D. Eisenhower’s Summer White House and the Governor’s Mansion.
Last week’s lawsuit was filed by John Crays of Crays Real Estate Investments, a firm that works with historic properties. He acquired the right to sue Montecinos on behalf of neighbors at 2735 and 2750 E. Seventh in what is known as an assignment of claims in legal parlance.
“Squatters and homeless individuals have on various occasions taken up residence in the property and its yard,” his lawsuit claims. “They have made semi-permanent encampments, started fires, leaving large volumes of garbage; they defecate and urinate in the yard; they use the property as a drug den and engage in such activities at all times of day and night.”
Attached to the lawsuit is a slideshow, created by a neighbor to the east, showing the property’s decline over the past decade from “a well-manicured example of a home in the East 7th Avenue Historic District” in 2015 to “an eyesore and a disgrace to this historic district” today.
“Perhaps the City of Denver would be interested in using this property for a haunted house at Halloween this year?” the slideshow jokes at one point. “It certainly looks like one!”
Crays is asking Denver District Judge Bruce Jones to appoint a receiver for the property or require Montecinos to demolish it. Built in 1920 for a dairy executive, the 2,300-square-foot house is in the historic district but is not a historic landmark, according to city records.
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Crays’ lawyer is Chris Conant of Hatch Ray Olsen Conant, who declined to discuss the case.
Through Conant, Crays is suing the owners of at least eight nuisance properties in Denver. Those include a derelict and abandoned 5,700-square-foot house at 2001 E. 18th Ave. in City Park West that is being listed as a knockdown opportunity for $2.2 million.
As for Montecinos, she apologized for not answering when a reporter called this week, noting that she doesn’t pick up when she doesn’t recognize the phone number since her own number has been posted publicly by angry neighbors.
“I get nuisance calls like you wouldn’t believe. I’ll be glad when the house is done.”
Read more from our partner, BusinessDen.
Can buyers rely on seller's home inspection report? - Gold Country Media
Mixed-use project proposed for former Hanson’s site in Platt Park
Doug McKinnon wants to redo the gateway to South Pearl Street’s shops and restaurants in Platt Park.
The real estate investor, through his firm McKinnon & Associates, submitted plans to Denver last week to redevelop his 0.29-acre 1301 S. Pearl St. lot, which sits next to the South Pearl sign welcoming people into the neighborhood.
The lot was formerly home to Hanson’s, a burger joint that closed in 2020 and was demolished in the past year. McKinnon bought the property for $2.9 million in cash last December.
McKinnon’s proposed three-story building would include a little bit of everything. The ground-floor corner is intended for a restaurant, with more retail along Pearl Street and residential along Louisiana Avenue next to it.
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Residential and office space is anticipated for the second and third floors. There would also be underground parking. Local shop OZ Architecture drew up the plans.
“Given the preliminary nature of the plan, it is a little premature for us to get too deep into specific details of the Project,” McKinnon wrote in an email to BusinessDen.
McKinnon is the second owner to explore redevelopment of the site.
Before he purchased it, the property was owned by Greenwood Village-based Cadence Capital Investments. The firm bought the two-story building in September 2020 for $2.6 million and submitted plans to Denver proposing to convert the existing structure into an office building. But no work ultimately took place.
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Denver Health pays $5.5M for land once eyed by apartment developer
Denver Health has purchased a site at the edge of its campus where a national developer once hoped to build apartments.
The health care provider paid $5.5 million last week, according to public records, for a 0.7-acre site along Bannock Street just south of Sixth Avenue. That works out to $180 a square foot.
Denver Health didn’t respond to requests for comment about the purchase. It hasn’t submitted any development plans to the city for the site, which is made up of multiple parcels zoned C-MX-8. That generally allows for up to eight stories and a mix of uses.
The bulk of Denver Health’s operations are north of Sixth Avenue. But the system has a paramedic training facility across Bannock Street from the site it just bought, and a parking garage behind that along Acoma Street.
In early 2022, Dallas-based developer Mill Creek Residential submitted plans to Denver proposing an eight-story, 219-unit apartment building at the site, which is at the north end of the Baker neighborhood.
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But Mill Creek never bought the site. The parcels were sold by Bannock Properties LLC, an entity managed by Thomas Barenberg.
In 2022, two dilapidated homes sat on the southern end of the site. But those have since been demolished.
This is Denver Health’s second real estate deal south of Sixth Avenue since August. That month, the system sold a parking lot at 155 W. Fifth Ave. to developer Jeff Shanahan of Shanahan Development, who plans to build an income-restricted housing project.
That deal happened because Shanahan sold a site he’d been planning to develop near Burnham Yard to the Denver Broncos, who intend to build a new stadium at the former railyard.
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Former Wash Park Grille property sold for $6M, will remain a restaurant
Something new is cooking at the former Wash Park Grille.
Real estate broker and investor Aaron Grant, of Grant Real Estate Co., purchased the shuttered eatery and its real estate at 1096 S. Gaylord St. in Denver for $6 million last week. The property has been mired in a messy legal battle between one of the restaurant’s owners and the estate of his deceased partner, and was seized by the city for unpaid taxes late last year.
The deal came in at $500,000 below the list price of $6.5 million. The 10,200-square-foot building includes another closed restaurant, Agave Taco Bar, and a 1,400-square-foot office on the second floor. The deal works out to $588 per square foot.
Grant, who lives in Wash Park and owns Park Coworking on the same block, told BusinessDen he bought the real estate with Kris Johnson, a Hilltop resident who works in oil and gas and has an office on South Gaylord. They financed the purchase with a $4.3 million loan from Star Mesa Capital, a local lender, set to mature in two years, according to public records.
Grant and Johnon have brought in Bart Hickey, formerly managing partner of Larimer Square’s Capital Grille, to reopen restaurants in the building, Grant said.
The Agave space will become The Taco Garage, focused on street tacos and margaritas. And the former Grille space will become Wash Park Social, which Grant describes as a “Colorado grill.”
Grant grew up on a farm outside the Weld County town of Mead but would accompany his mother when she drove to a salon on South Gaylord. He first went to Wash Park Grille in college, and moved to the neighborhood 13 years ago.
“I’ve just really always had a strong affinity for South Gaylord,” he said.
The goal with Wash Park Social is to “carry forth (Wash Park Grille’s) neighborhood tradition, but at the same time do something new,” Grant said.
Grant expects both restaurants to open in the spring.
Jeff Hallberg of Lee & Associates, who brokered the deal on behalf of Wash Park Grill owner Jeff Estey, said he received “three or four offers.”
“Jeff definitely wanted to see it stay a restaurant. It’s a great location for a restaurant, a hard corner with patio seating, and a lot of opportunity to grow another restaurant,” Hallberg said.
Estey and Greg Sauber, the duo behind Wash Park Grille, purchased 1096 S. Gaylord St. in 1998 for $1 million, a year after they opened the restaurant at the corner of Gaylord and Mississippi Avenue. They operated it together until Sauber’s death in 2022.
The Italian restaurant and the neighboring sister restaurant that the two co-owned, Agave, struggled after that. The restaurants were seized by the city for back taxes last December, briefly reopened, closed for good in February, and went on the market in March.
“I’m just done, I can’t do it anymore,” Estey said then. “I have to liquidate everything.”
While the businesses were going downhill, Sauber’s estate was suing Estey for allegedly stealing $1 million in insurance proceeds rather than buying out the estate’s share of the companies. Estey countersued for $170,000 he claimed Sauber took before his death.
The case was personal and contentious. In March, the estate accused Estey of “treat(ing) the business credit card as his personal piggy bank,” citing trips to Paris, Cancun, casinos in Las Vegas, hotel stays and strip club visits. “The term ‘bleeding money’ is an accurate depiction of the current status of the LLCs,” it said of the restaurants and their real estate.
Estey became offended by the estate’s claim that he ran Sauber’s legacy into the ground.
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“The estate wants to keep pounding me down, making me the villain,” he said. “I didn’t ask for Greg to die. I didn’t ask for my partner of 28 years to just die and for it to all fall on me.”
The dispute was settled in June and a third-party administrator was hired to split proceeds from the sale of 1096 Gaylord St., since the Sauber estate did not trust Estey to do so.
Estey did not respond to requests for comment about his property sale last week.
BusinessDen staffers Thomas Gounley and Justin Wingerter contributed reporting.
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