Colorado Real Estate Journal - September 16, 2015
East West Partners’ B Block near Denver Union Station just got a lot more expensive, trading for $456.11 per square foot. “It’s certainly on the higher end of the spectrum for land sales per square foot for downtown and Union Station. No doubt about that,” said CBRE First Vice President Eric Roth, who was not involved in the deal. “If there’s anywhere that commands that type of price, Union Station is it.” East West and joint venture partner Amstar, an international real estate investment manager, paid $20 million for the approximately one-acre site at 1712 Wewatta St. East West and a Starwood Capital Group affiliate bought the property for $10 million a year ago. The new ownership group hasn’t settled on a development plan. “We’re still in the exploratory stages,” said Chris Frampton, East West’s managing partner in Denver. The site allows for a building up to 20 stories. Whatever plan emerges, “They’re absolutely going to max out the site at that price per square feet,” said Roth. Although high by downtown and even Union Station neighborhood standards, the price isn’t a record. In the oil boom days of the 1980s, some CDB properties traded around $500 per sf and one deal was under contract at $1,000 per sf, but fell through because of the bust, according to longtime commercial real estate veteran John Winslow of Winslow Property Consultants. Still, “It’s the consensus by the people I’ve talked to that this is the highest-priced parcel of land since the ‘80s,” Winslow said.