Colorado Real Estate Journal - January 6, 2016

Stoltz pays $44M for 18th Street Atrium near Union Station

Stoltz Real Estate Partners tracked down another historic building in Lower Downtown to add to its growing portfolio of Denver office assets.

The 18th Street Atrium, which Stoltz bought in a $44 million, off-market deal, is the largest of four historic brick-and-timber buildings the company has acquired in LoDo. The 117,469-square-foot building is located at 1621 18th St., a block away from Denver Union Station.

The 18th Street Atrium was built as a fruit and vegetable warehouse in 1919 and converted to office space in the early 1980s. The office spaces surround an atrium that bathes the building’s four-story interior in natural light.

Seller Toma West collected $374.57 per sf for the building. The deal also included a parking garage at 1890 Wynkoop St.

Geoff Baukol, a senior vice president in CBRE’s investment properties group, said the supply of “true” brick-and-timber buildings in Lower Downtown isn’t that great, and at more than 117,000 sf, 18th Street Atrium is a substantially sized building in that asset class. “There is incredible demand for that type of product in LoDo, and you are right across the street from Union Station. That’s just a fantastic combination, and that’s why the building is 100 percent leased,” he said.

Intrawest, which owns the Winter Park and Steamboat ski areas, among other mountain resorts, occupies approximately 35,000 sf in the building. Zayo Group, a communications company, has 30,000 sf, and Mortensen Construction occupies approximately 25,000 sf. Most of the building’s tenants are on relatively long-term lease commitments.

Stoltz Real Estate Partners’ other Lower Downtown assets include the Hedges-Atkins Supply Co. Building at 1730 Blake St. and Elephant Corral at 1444 Wazee St., both of which it bought this year, and the Cable Building at 1801 Lawrence St. The Pennsylvania-based real estate fund manager also owns suburban Denver office assets, including Ridgeline Tech Center in Highlands Ranch and Meridian Corporate Center in Englewood.