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Page 4 — COLORADO REAL ESTATE JOURNAL — January 7-January 20, 2015
Where business, law and politics converge.
Adam Agron, Managing Partner
Brownstein Hyatt Farber Schreck, LLP
303.223.1100
DENVER OFFICE
410 Seventeenth Street, Suite 2200
Denver, CO 80202
Learn more at bhfs.com
Congratulations to New Shareholder Blair E. Lichtenfels
A real estate attorney with a business perspective, Blair Lichtenfels
advises prominent metro developers in connection with urban infill
redevelopment and new development projects. Her practice
encompasses entitlement review, securing required land use
approvals, acquisitions, providing community outreach advice and
advising on public-private partnerships and negotiations.
Blair E. Lichtenfels,
Shareholder
Real Estate
303.223.1190
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Brownstein_CREJ_6x6.5_print ready.pdf 1 12/18/2014 9:24:38 AM
Greater Denver
by John Rebchook
It’s a case of marijuana meets
Main Street.
The owner of a greenhouse
in Boulder approached Greg
Johnson and Kyle Malnati of
Madison Commercial Prop-
erties about doing a 1031
exchange into an apartment
building after he sold his
greenhouse.
At the time he was leasing
it to a marijuana grower and
members of the group that
operated the grow house want-
ed to buy it from him.
“We had met him through
friends of his who had done
business with us in the past,”
Johnson said.
While Johnson and Malnati
were not involved in the green-
house sale, he said the owner,
who does not want to be pub-
licly identified, had owned it
for a long time.
“He had operated it as a
typical greenhouse for many
years,” but in recent years had
found it more lucrative to lease
it to a pot grower, he said.
“I’m not sure how much he
sold the greenhouse for, as we
were not involved in that trans-
action,” Johnson said.
“The marijuana industry has
caused greenhouse values to
skyrocket,” Malnati said.
“We helped them turn the
sale of their greenhouse into
two successful apartment pur-
chases,” Malnati said.
With a 1031 exchange, which
allows sellers to defer the cap-
ital gains taxes, he was not
required to buy another green-
house.
“He just needed another
income-producing property,”
Johnson said.
He was no stranger to apart-
ment investing.
“He owned an apart-
ment building in Capitol Hill
through a partnership,” John-
son said.
In one deal, they sold him
a 12-unit apartment building
at 68 Sherman St. in Denver’s
West Washington Park neigh-
borhood.
“Our client expressed a clear
preference for updated and
well-maintained properties,”
Johnson said. “This property
was a perfect fit.”
Malnati and Johnson had
listed the property for sale, and
generated several competing
offers for the property.
“In the end, the buyers were
68 Sherman St.
1345 Monroe St.
Jonathan Stern, Publisher & Founder
Jennifer Hayes, Editor
Jill Jamieson-Nichols, Editor
John Rebchook, Editor
Kris Oppermann Stern, Editor
Michelle Askeland, Special Sections Editor
Ryan Gager, Special Sections Editor
Lori Golightly, Director of Client Services
Jill Harris, Circulation Manager
Production/Graphic Design:
Jennifer Steidley
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(ISSN 1060-4383) Vol. 24 No. 1