SEPTEMBER 16-OCTOBER 6, 2015
by Jill Jamieson-Nichols
A 75,500-square-foot Class
AA office building will be
developed on the bustling
East Belleview Avenue corri-
dor in Denver Tech Center
West.
Kentwood Real Estate CEO
Peter Niederman and Frank
Hutto, a Denver energy indus-
try executive, will develop
One DTC West, an approxi-
mately $24 million project, at
the northwest corner of East
Belleview Avenue and South
Niagara Street. Kentwood
Real Estate, which is on track
to do $2.3 billion in sales this
year, will occupy the top floor
of the four-story, multitenant
building.
“It’s a rare opportunity to
be able to
a c q u i r e
such
a
wo n d e r -
ful
par-
cel where
we’re see-
ing most of
the growth
happening
in the Den-
ver Tech
Center,” said Niederman. “It’s
not just a building for Kent-
wood. It’s a building that we
feel will be a great investment
to own long term.”
Niederman and Hutto’s
partnership, HN Partners,
plans to break ground on One
DTC West April 1 and deliver
the LEED Gold building in
summer 2017.
The 2.4-acre development
site is across the street from
the Belleview Station transit-
oriented development, near
restaurants, luxury apart-
ments and at the gateway to
executive housing in Cherry
Hills Village.
Michael Barber of Barber
Architecture is designing the
building to take advantage of
the prominent corner site to
create a signature landmark.
The exterior is glass curtain
wall and custom-finished
architectural concrete, said
Barber, adding night light-
ing will enhance and further
strengthen building identity.
Extensive landscaping with
a particular emphasis on the
East Belleview Avenue front-
age and a main entry court
integrate One DTC West with
the site, he said.
The building will include
high-quality interior finishes,
a 17-foot main-floor lobby
with floor-to-ceiling glass,
9-foot, 6-inch ceilings in ten-
ant spaces and 10-foot ceilings
on the top floor. “All floors
have continuous glass, taking
advantage of the spectacular
Western mountain views,”
said Barber, whose company
designed such notable proj-
ects as the Re/Max Interna-
tional Headquarters, Aurora
Municipal Center, Crescent
Town Center, Liberty Media
Headquarters, among others.
One DTC West will incor-
porate a three-level parking
structure, providing a 3.5:1,000
parking ratio.
“Michael Barber designed
a great building,” said Doug
Wulf of Cushman&Wakefield,
who leads the leasing team.
Michael Barber of Barber Architecture is designing One DTCWest, a 75,500-square-foot office building
that will be developed on East Belleview Avenue and South Niagara Street.
Peter Niederman
by John Rebchook
It’s a bold claim.
“We think the Hemp Cen-
tre is the largest center in the
world focused on providing a
one-stop shopping experience
for marijuana and marijuana-
related products,” according to
Corey Wagner, executive vice
president of Western Centers.
“Well, maybe not in the
world, but in the U.S.,” he said,
amending his statement.
While it may sound like
hyperbole, the claim for the
HempCentre, formerly known
as Chambers Point, at the
southeast of corner of South
Chambers Road and East Mex-
ico Avenue in Aurora, is not
without merit.
In fact, when Western Cen-
ters’ vision for the Hemp Cen-
tre is inplace, itmay be a global
leader in serving the cannabis
community.
“We see this as a model for
other centers like it across the
nation,” as other states follow
Colorado’s lead and legalize
the use of marijuana, said Joel
Meranski, of Colliers Interna-
tional, who is leasing the center.
They already have been con-
tacted by a group out of San
Francisco that likes the concept
and believes it can be expand-
ed across the U.S.
“Colorado is clearly a leader
and on the forefront as far as
legalizing the use of marijua-
na,” Wagner said.
“If you drive around the
metro area, you will find that
most of the marijuana-related
retail stores are either in small,
older, standalone buildings or
are part of older, kind of worn-
down strip centers,” Wagner
said.
Many landlords also worry
of the potential of property
being seized by federal agen-
cies, he noted.
Also, it can be tricky to deal
with some marijuana business-
es because of their difficulty in
getting bank accounts.
“That is a question we ask
all potential tenants,” Wagner
said.
“We don’t want to have our
rent paid in cash,” he said. “We
want checks or direct depos-
its.”
Not only is the Hemp Centre
almost certainly the largest cen-
ter dedicated to the marijuana
industry, but Western Centers
is in the process of complet-
ing a $1 million renovation of
the center that was built in the
1980s.
Western Centers has owned
it for about the past 15 years
and managed it for about 25
years.
The Hemp Centre is undergoing a $1 million renovation.
Inside
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