Colorado Real Estate Journal -
Jonathan Alpert heard through the real estate grapevine about a year ago that Pagliacci‘s, Denver’s oldest family owned Italian restaurant, was about to go on the market. “It never hit the market, but Rose Langston, a super-sweet lady, was getting ready to sell it, so we met with her and made an offer, sight unseen and without doing any real due diligence,” said Alpert, whose company this summer will start developing a 61-unit, five-story luxury apartment building called Lumina on the site. Langston is the niece of Pagliacci’s founder Frank Grandinettti, who opened the restaurant at 1440 W. 33rd Ave. in 1946. “The most important thing for people to know is that I didn’t offer a stupid amount of money and convince her to sell,” said Alpert, who owns TreeHouse Brokerage & Development with partner Clem Rinehart. In other words, he didn’t make her an offer that she couldn't refuse. “She was already planning on selling,” Alpert said. And as early as they were to the table, others also approached her about buying Pagliacci’s Alpert was familiar with the restaurant. Growing up in Denver, he had eaten there numerous times for family events, and his father, Ted, had eaten there for his prom night dinner. Ted and his brother, Lee, have developed tens of thousands of homes and residential lots in the suburbs around Denver, but have never focused on infill developments in the city and nearby neighborhoods such as Lower Highland, where Pagliacci’s is located. When Jonathan Alpert told his father, who grew up on West Colfax Avenue and Perry Street, he was buying Pagliacci’s, “He was like ‘Wow!’ You have to understand I have been trying to get him to invest and develop in neighborhoods like LoHi for years. It’s pretty clear now why you should be there, but it wasn't so clear 10 years ago.” The younger, Alpert, how ever, knew he wanted to be involved in the redevelopment of the Pagliacci’s site. “It has a LoHi location that is second to none,” Alpert said. “Residents are going to have these fantastic views of Denver’s skyline and the mountains. I love it that the bike path is right there, so someone can easily bike to downtown or get on the path and bike over to the River North neighborhood.” The average size of a unit will be about 750 square feet, but it will have a mix of smaller studios, as well as larger units of 1,500 square feet of more on the top floors. “We’re not going to be opening for about 15 months, so who knows where rents will be at that time. I wouldn’t even want to guess,” he said. On the other hand, he said he expects rents will be north of $2 per square foot, as are most luxury apartment buildings in the area. Lumina actually will be owned by Cavaliere Enterprises, a father-daughter team owned by Greg and Edee Anesi. “They are going to be longterm owners, but we will not just build it and go away,” Alpert said. “We are looking at a lot of long-term exit strategies and that could include a condo conversion at some point, if market conditions warrant it,” Alpert said. Tres Birds Worskhop, a local architectural firm, is designing Lumina. The design will incorporate Lumina’s rich history, while taking advantage of sunlight, according to the company. Lumina’s design will feature a curved façade accented by a decorative screen that will create patterns when illuminated. Other touches will include rooftop plantings and the original Pagliacci sign, which will serve as an unofficial historic marker. Rinehart said the team realizes the importance of Pagliacci’s to the neighborhood’s character and history. “We always plan our projects to add to a neighborhood, in terms of improved use and design, but in this case, it was especially critical to us that we create something interesting and special, while honoring the history of the site,” Rinehart said. Rinehart agreed with Alpert that Langston could have sold the restaurant to any number of suitors. He thinks Treehouse got it because “we are a local group interested in creating something new on the site – instead of another restaurant – while paying homage to what was there before.” Anesi lives in LoHi and also is the owner of Anesi Fine Art.
Alpert currently lives in West Highland, just a couple of miles west of the Paggliacci’s site. “The fact that we’re all residents of northwest Denver gives us a unique perspective and sense of ownership,” Alpert said. “We all love Denver’s urban neighborhoods and share the mission of developing them in a unique and thoughtful way,” Alpert said. Lumina also will have 6,000 sf of ground-floor retail. “We will have a key retail site right at the corner, where Paggliacci’s front door is,” Alpert said.