CREJ

March 2021 \ BUILDING DIALOGUE \ 79 WORDS: Kevin Criss I ’mwalking into Block 162’s expansive, columnless 30th floor with David Hal- tom, Patrinely Group’s Rocky Moun- tain Division vice president. Haltom exudes a mix of excitement and pride as he directs my attention to the jaw-dropping Front Range panorama spread out before us. “There’s Mount Evans,” he announces. “You can see Pikes Peaks right over there in the distance. And then, straight on axis, right up 15th Street you see Longs Peak. You can even see the Flatirons up in Boulder.” Earlier, Haltom had pulled no punches when he discussed his latest project. “We were always intent on delivering the best new office development in the city. That was our goal from Day One. And we be- lieve that we will have achieved that goal when the building is delivered.” Turns out, that’s not just developer spin. Forget the best in the city. Block 162 is the best new office building in Colorado. A Project Years in The Making Block 162 is the much anticipated 30-sto- ry, 595,000-square-foot, Class A, glass tower at 15th and California. It’s a rare speculative office high-rise in Denver’s central business district and it has easily wooed tenants with a mix of location, unrivaled amenities, flexi- bility of space, and stellar mountain and city views. Named for the site’s block number on the original 1859 plat map of Boyd’s East Denver survey, Block 162 sits in a neighborhood rich in history, but for decades the parcel had been just another one of Denver’s many sur- face parking lots littered with broken glass and wadded-up parking passes. Years in the making, Block 162 came to- gether thanks to the all-star team of the Den- ver arm of developer Patrinely Group, along with primary capital partner USAA Real Es- tate, out of San Antonio, Gensler Houston for the architecture and Denver’s Swinerton as the general contractor. According to Haltom, the process began when a prospective tenant asked Patrinely New Kid on the Block 162 Spec build beautifully blurs office & hospitality