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Page 18 — COLORADO REAL ESTATE JOURNAL — December 7-December 20, 2016
Finance
by John Rebchook
First National Denver has
provided $49 million in financ-
ing to Denver-based Pauls for
the development of the Laurel
Cherry Creek, a 71-unit, luxury
condominium tower in Cherry
Creek North.
Pauls, formerly known as the
Pauls Corp., was founded by Bill
Pauls, who formerly owned the
Denver Technological Center.
In 1979, Pauls and two part-
ners acquired the Denver Tech
Center. Soon after, they created a
partnership to own the tech cen-
ter with London-based Europe-
an Ferries, a shipping company.
In 1989, Pauls stepped down
as CEO of the tech center part-
nership and launched his name-
sake company.
His first order of business was
to acquire 1,200 acres near the
Denver International Airport,
which he called Gateway Busi-
ness Park.
Pauls and partners have
developed more than 10 million
square feet of buildings nation-
wide.
The strength and stature of
Pauls made First Bank of Denver
eager to put together a finance
deal for Pauls on the Laurel
Cherry Creek at 155 Steele St.
“First and foremost, it was the
sponsorship,” said Dave Leder-
hos, a vice president at First
Bank of Denver.
“Pauls is one of the premier
real estate investors, owners and
developers, not only in Denver
and in the region, but in the
country,” Lederhos said.
In addition, he believes that
Pauls is developing the right
product at the right time in the
right place.
“I think it has an A-plus spon-
sorship and an A-plus location
that just happens to be six blocks
from our office,” Lederhos said.
He said Pauls has been patient-
ly waiting to bring the right
development to that key site.
“It has been in the works,
at some level, for going on a
decade,” he said.
This marks First Bank of Den-
ver’s first deal with Pauls.
However, it has experience
with Haselden Construction,
the general contractor for Laurel
Cherry Creek.
“Haselden has a great deal of
experience in the Cherry Creek
market – they built Steele Creek
(the luxury apartment tower at
3222 E. First Ave.), for example,”
he said.
“We know they build a quality
building in a timely manner,”
Lederhos said.
“We also believe there is a real
dearth of luxury for-sale prod-
uct, especially in a hot market
like Cherry Creek,” Lederhos
said.
“The few that have been built
have done very well,” he noted.
Presales are expected to begin
next summer.
The deal with Pauls is so com-
plex that First Bank of Denver
bought in about a half-dozen
other banks to participate in the
loan.
“For confidentiality reasons I
can’t saywho the other banks are
but, generally, they are small- to
medium-sized local and regional
banks,” Lederhos said.
Brian Pauls, executive man-
aging director and treasurer at
Pauls, said that First National
Denver is an ideal banking part-
ner for Laurel Cherry Creek.
“First National Denver has a
proven record of tailoring loans
to meet the specific needs of con-
struction projects in the Denver
marketplace and leading a col-
laborative process,” said Brian
Pauls, who also is the son of Bill
Pauls.
“The First National team
understood the complexities of
the project and was able to struc-
ture a tailored loan strategy to fit
our needs for this development,”
he said.
Pauls chose First National
Denver based on its expertise in
the Cherry Creek marketplace
and its local lending capabilities.
“Helping our clients secure the
loan facilities they need to be
successful is paramount to our
commercial real estate team’s
success and integration into the
local business climate,” Leder-
hos said.
“We live and work in this area,
so our team is highly tuned in to
the local business environment
and recognized the opportunity
this deal presented,” he said.
Other News
n Denver-based Brock Yaffe,
an associate director at HFF,
assisted in the securing of a $103
million Freddie Mac loan for the
$129 million purchase of the 959-
unit Pembrooke on the Green
apartment community by Oak
Coast Properties.
Charles Hallady and Lee Red-
mond, based in HFF’s New-
port Beach, California, office,
also were part of the team that
A rendering of the Laurel Cherry Creek, where presales will begin next
summer