Colorado Real Estate Journal -
The Prospect neighborhood, minutes from Union Station and in the shadow of Coors Field, is a once-gritty industrial neighborhood that is enjoying renewed interest from residential developers. The district is bordered by the City of Cuernavaca Park, 20th Street and Park Avenue West. It has frontage along the South Platte River and benefits from its proximity to Union Station, the hub of the FasTracks system, which in the coming years will have a rail line directly from downtown to Denver International Airport. The district currently is home to a number of new apartment buildings and condo developments in new and historic buildings. Eventually, it is anticipated to be home to about 2,000 people. The latest entry into Prospect is Ohio-based Edwards Cos. Edwards, in its first venture in Denver, recently paid $6.25 million to Barry Hirschfeld for a 1.6-acre site at 2901 Huron St., in the heart of Prospect. Hirschfeld is CEO of A.B. Hirschfeld & Sons, a former publishing giant. He has invested in and developed Denver real estate for years. The sale equates to a price of $90.81 per square foot. Edwards was represented by brokers Steve O’Dell and Chris Cowan, principals of the Denver office of ARA, formerly known as Apartment Realty Advisors. “With the explosive demand over the last 18 months for downtown living, The Edwards Cos. made a strategic buy in the heart of the action,” Cowan said. It is no surprise that Edwards was drawn to Prospect, he said. “I think Prospect is evolving into a downtown neighborhood people who live, work and hang out in downtown know about,” Cowan said. “It’s a very identifiable neighborhood for people downtown. But if you are an outsider, living in Lakewood for example, you wouldn’t know about it.” Indeed, it doesn’t have the cachet or the name recognition as LoDo, he said. “It’s not even as well-known as Ballpark, for that matter,” he said. Part of the reason it isn’t as well known as some other neighborhoods is because, while it has a wide variety of housing, which is growing with the Edwards’ purchase, it doesn’t have the restaurants, bars and retail establishments found elsewhere, he said. Indeed, Hirschfeld retained a “strategic corner” that he plans to develop into a “retail opportunity,” Cowan said. “Being able to team up with a local real estate veteran like Barry Hirschfeld to implement a thoughtful urban mixed-use development in the Prospect Park neighborhood is a perfect recipe for success,” Cowan said. “The Edwards Cos. will create Class A living space while A.B. Hirschfeld & Sons will provide adjacent and much needed retail and restaurant sites, a winning combination in this burgeoning area,” Cowan added. The exact number of units the Edwards apartment community will have is a bit unknown, as it looking to obtain a nearby property to the north, which currently is owned by the Pauls Corp., Cowan said. “I think with Barry’s site, they could have up to 175 or 200 units,” Cowan said. “If they expand their footprint with the Pauls Corp.’s property, they might have 275 or 300 units. One of the nice things is they likely could phase the development, so they could build out Barry’s site and later expand it.” Some neighbors are trying to stop the demolition of the 50,000-square-foot industrial building at 3019 Huron St. owned by the Pauls Corp., by having it designated as a historic landmark that Edwards wants to buy and incorporate into its new community, Cowan said. Ken Schroeppel, an instructor at the University of Colorado Denver College of Architecture and Planning, noted on his Denverinfill.com blog that Prospect is the “new name for the old industrial area which once housed Italian railroad workers and for most of the 20th century gritty warehouses.” North of the Platte River is the “tranquil City of Cuernavaca Park,” while south of the Platte, where Edwards is staking its claim, “is a booming new residential area.” That is exactly right, according to Cowan. “Living in the shadow of Coors Field, the Prospect Park neighborhood is a surprisingly quiet part of town located within walking distance of downtown sports venues, restaurants and cultural attractions,” he said.