July 15-August 4, 2015 —
COLORADO REAL ESTATE JOURNAL
— Page 31
by Jill Jamieson-Nichols
Seattle-based Unico Properties
LLC added to its downtown Den-
ver holdings with the $30 million
acquisition of the Denver Club
Building at 518 17th St.
Unicobought the 24-storybuild-
ing from Lowe Enterprises and
will invest $10million in common-
area improvements and tenant
spaces.
The deal included all but the
16th through 19th floors of the
1954 building, one of the premier
buildings of its time. The Denver
Club, which has been at the same
site since 1888, owns and occupies
two of the floors, and Black Creek
Group owns another.
The 231,454-square-foot build-
ing’s occupancy was 82 percent
at the time of the sale. DCT is a
large tenant in the building, which
also houses oil and gas, financial
services, health care and business
services tenants. Charles Schwab
and the Corporate Deli are located
on the first floor, which also has a
chapel that was built for former
First Lady Mamie Eisenhower to
use during frequent visits to the
nearby Brown Palace. The build-
ing also retains original flooring.
“With the acquisition of this
architectural gem in downtown
Denver,ourgoalistoinvestasignif-
icant amount of capital to upgrade
the building’s image while still
maintaining
its
historic
character, all
while
con-
tinuing our
growth and
expansion in
the Denver
market,” said
Ned Carner,
Unico Prop-
erties
vice
president of acquisitions. “We’re
thrilled to own and invest in the
Denver Club and in Denver’s
CBD. With this acquisition, we
plan to elevate the building’s pro-
file for new and existing tenants
by Jill Jamieson-Nichols
Kaiser Permanente has signed
a long-term lease for 80,000 square
feet of office space in Meridian
International Business Center.
Gateway Plaza at Meridian
will house Kaiser’s new Nation-
al Claims Administration team.
Nearly 250 employees who will
process claims for multiple Kai-
ser Permanente regions, includ-
ing Colorado, Georgia, Hawaii,
the Mid-Atlantic States and the
Northwest, will work out of the
building. The team will add up
to 75 positions over the next 12
months, and by 2017 close to 400
claims department professionals
will work in the building.
“We are very excited to bring
the team together in this new facil-
ity as we continue our important
work to provide excellent service
to Kaiser Permanente members in
Colorado and across the country,”
said Denise McKenna, vice presi-
dent for Health Plan Service and
Administration, Kaiser Perman-
ente Colorado.
Interior build-out of Kaiser’s
space is scheduled to begin later
this summer. Employees will start
moving into the building inphases
in late 2015 through spring 2016.
They will have access to the latest
standard Kaiser Permanente facili-
ties design, including spacious
training rooms, two large kitchen
and break rooms, and multiple
informal collaboration spaces.
Jamie Gard and Courtney Has-
san of Newmark Grubb Knight
Frank represented the landlord,
The Westminster Funds, in the
lease. David Welker and Todd
Roebkenof JLLrepresentedKaiser.
With the Kaiser lease, the
147,560-sf Gateway at Meridian is
essentially leased up, according to
Gard.
s
Office
Ned Carner
‘With the acquisition of
this architectural gem
in downtown Denver,
our goal is to invest a
significant amount of
capital to upgrade the
building’s image while
still maintaining its
historic character.’
– Ned Carner,
Unico Properties LLC
