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COLORADO REAL ESTATE JOURNAL
— September 2-September 15, 2015
Greater Denver
by John Rebchook
Billy Riesing knows he could
have quickly sold the historic
Zen Center of Denver building
at 3101 W. 31st Ave. many times
over if not for its single-family
zoning.
“It’s at the gateway to (West)
Highland, which has been one
of the hottest, if not the hottest,
neighborhoods in Denver for the
past several years,” said Riesing
of Pinnacle Real Estate Advisors.
In fact, anumber ofwell-known
“heavyweight” infill developers
did tour the 17,090-square-foot
church that was built in 1920,
since Riesing first listed it in May
2014.
Designed by one of Denver’s
most prominent architects, Burn-
ham F. Hoyt, developers passed
on buying the building because
of the zoning, although they con-
sidered everything from retail
to wedding halls for the Renais-
sance Revival-style structure near
Speer and Federal Boulevard.
However, rezoning likely
would be a tough haul in the
neighborhood, Riesing said. A
plan for a three-building, luxu-
ry apartment community a few
blocks to the west at Lowell Bou-
levard and West 32nd Avenue,
for example, was delayed by
more than a year because of a
lawsuit filed by neighbors.
And because of a historic pres-
ervation grant for the interior, the
church area needed to be kept
intact, which likely precluded
apartments or condos, as that
area cannot be chopped up.
The building showcases
detailed masonry craftsman-
ship, vaulted ceilings, colored
glass panes and a “breathtak-
ing” amphitheater with a double-
shelled skylight and an Austin
pipe organ.
The building has received
funding from the State Histori-
cal Fund and there are covenants
in place restricting what can be
done in the interior.
Despite the obstacles, Riesing
said he found the perfect buyer.
The building recently was pur-
chased for $1.8 million by two
investors on behalf of the non-
denominational Sanctuary of
Downtown Church.
The Zen Center had paid
$460,000 in 1998 for the building
and the adjoining parking lot,
according to public records.
The Sanctuary currently leases
a historic church building about
a mile to the east at 2215 W. 39th
Ave.
“It’s really difficult for these
urban churches to stay in the
neighborhood, because property
prices have risen so much, so the
Sanctuary really is the perfect
buyer for the Zen Center,” Reilly
said.
A developer, by contrast, likely
would have put a lot of condi-
tions on the sale – at the top of
the list being a successful rezon-
ing. Since there is no guarantee a
rezoning effort would be success-
ful, there would be quite a bit of
risk to his client, Reilly said.
“Someone can offer $10 mil-
lion, but if they don't close, it is
meaningless,” Reilly said.
John Winslow, principal of
Winslow Property Consultants,
wasn’t involved in the deal, but is
familiar with the Zen Center.
He wholeheartedly agrees with
Reilly’s assessment.
“The difficulty of marketing a
building with the restrictive cov-
enants coupled with it not being
a “development play” made it a
rifle versus a shotgun marketing
approach,” Winslow said.
“There are a limited number
of buyers in the state and even
the U.S. that would be able to
make this work, unless they were
another church, which Sanctuary
Downtown Church is,” Winslow
said.
The sale represents a great buy
for both the seller and the buyer,
according to Winslow.
“The $1.8 million sales price is
slightly north of $105 per square
foot (excluding the 11,492-square-
foot parking lot), way below
reproduction cost,” Winslow
said.
“To replicate this building with
modern materials would be at
least four times the purchase
price,” he said.
It’s also a beautiful building,
he said.
“The architectural integrity of
this building is second to none,”
Winslow said.
The Sanctuary Downtown
plans to move into the Zen Cen-
ter for its first service in October,
said Peter Thiel, pastor of the
Sanctuary.
“We are pretty excited,” Thiel
said.
“We like the building. We think
it is a beautiful building and a
Billy Riesing recently sold the Zen Center building for $1.8 million.
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