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COLORADO REAL ESTATE JOURNAL
— May 4-May 17, 2016
Multifamily
described the Mezzo as a “rare
high-rise offering” strategically
located in Denver’s “It” neigh-
borhood of Capitol Hill.
The sales price equates to
$197,790 per unit and $325.85
per square foot for the 1901,803-
sf building.
“When you start getting close
to $400 per square foot, that is
a pretty big number,” Bruteig
said.
Smaller, older buildings,
however, have sold for more
per door than the Mezzo.
Capitol Hill has been one of
the best performing submarkets
in Denver.
“I was just looking at Capitol
Hill numbers yesterday and I
was surprised how high the
rents are, even though it has a
lot of older buildings,” Bruteig
said.
The average apartment for
rent in Capitol Hill was built
about 50 years ago, he noted.
Since the Mezzo was built, the
city of Denver’s population has
grown about 60 percent, while
the entire metro area has grown
by sixfold.
Robbins said a number of
prospective buyers wanted to
buy the Mezzo.
“I think it is really a neat
deal,” Robbins said. “You just
don’t see that many high-rises
go on the market.”
The location is as good as it
gets, yet the prices renters pay
is a fraction of what a renter
would pay for a newer building
in today’s market, he said.
“It’s a great alternative to a
newer building,” Robbins said.
He said he received offers
from investors on the West
and East coasts, as well as local
investors.
The seller, Redhill Realty
Investors, had invested about
$10.5 million in the property.
“It really has some nice fin-
ishes and nice amenities,” Rob-
bins said.
Records show that Red-
hill paid $33.5 million for the
Mezzo in 2007. In 2005, it had
sold for $23 million.
“In its entire history, it hasn’t
traded all that many times,”
Robbins said.
According to a Denver Com-
munity Planning and Develop-
ment report, Sherman Tower
(which in the early days may
have been called Sherman
Plaza) was built by Nicholas
G. Petry.
However, Petry died in 1950,
three years before the building
was completed.
One real estate broker famil-
iar with the building suspects it
was built by his son, Nicholas
R. Petry.
Exactly why a developer
would tackle such a big project
at that time is a bit of a mystery.
“It must have been a massive
project for that time,” Bruteig
said.
Capitol Hill was not the hot
spot it is today.
“My guess about Capitol Hill
in the 1950s is that it was filled
with rundown mansions that
had been converted to TB sani-
tariums or apartment houses,”
said historian Tom Noel.
“Suburbanization was setting
in and respectable folks were
fleeing Capitol Hill,” said Noel,
a professor of history and direc-
tor of public history and preser-
vation at the University of Col-
orado Denver, who is known as
Dr. Colorado, for his wide and
in-depth knowledge of Denver
and Colorado history.
One broker, who had sold the
building before it was renamed,
said that it is remarkable that it
was never converted into con-
dominiums.
Maybe even more remark-
able is how well the Mezzo has
withstood the test of time.
“When you look at it, it
doesn’t really look like it was
built more than 60 years ago.”
s
An aerial shot of Mezzo
The rooftop deck provides great views from the Mezzo.
