Colorado Real Estate Journal - February 17, 2016
A company with roots in Denver plans to develop a high-rise office building at 15th and California streets. Block 162 will comprise 606,500 square feet, with 21 floors of office space above 10 floors of podium and three levels of underground parking. The building is named for the site block number on an 1859 survey map. Patrinely Group, which started in Denver with development of ParkRidge Corporate Center in 1997, will develop the building. Block 162 will be owned by U.S. Office Development Program, a $700 million private equity fund focused on new office development in select growth markets. Entities controlled by Houston-based Patrinely and USAA Real Estate Co. are co-general partners of the ownership group. A pre-application for the project, which likely also will include a hotel, has been submitted to the city. U.S. Office Development Program is under contract to buy the site from landowner Evan Makovsky. Gensler is designing the building, and Patrinely expects to deliver it in early 2019. Patrinely said it’s seeing “tremendous interest” in the project and expects to have a commitment prior to breaking ground. Doug Wulf and Todd Wheeler of Cushman & Wakefield are marketing the project, which will have 29,000-sf floor plates and 2:1,000 parking, twice as much as most competing buildings. There also will be a 12th-floor sky terrace with a social lounge and fitness center opening to a manicured outdoor area – something new to the downtown market. “We are delighted to take our next step in the Denver market on what I believe is the best site in the CBD for a new office tower, offering unobstructed views from every floor,” said Dean Patrinely, managing principal of Patrinely Group. “Downtown has a tremendous amount of energy and momentum in the real estate market right now. We think the timing is right for a CBD office building,” said Carolyn Drushel, Patrinely Group executive managing director. “Block 162 is a great site right on light rail, adjacent to the 16th Street Mall, surrounded by retail amenities with 20 hotels within walking distance. Combine these site attributes with a state-of-the-art, highly efficient office building including first-class amenities and we think we have a product that today’s office users are looking for in a new development.” Five blocks away, Hines is under construction on a 40-story, 662,300-sf tower for delivery in early 2018. Given tenant activity, a lack of large blocks of office space and different timing, Patrinely Group said it believes there is room enough for both projects to be successful. The company hopes the hotel will be developed at the same time and is working with Makovsky to make that happen. The buildings are designed so they can be developed independently but will function as a unified development. Block 162’s fitness center will have folding doors that open onto an outdoor exercise lawn and an indoor area with yoga, cardio stations, free weights, and private showers and lockers. The social lounge also opens to the outdoors, providing casual seating, fire pits and views of the Front Range. A street-level lobby will open to 15th and California, offering curb appeal with a coffee bar/café. The building also will have bike storage with a repair workbench. The project marks Patrinely Group’s return to the Denver office market. The company exited the office market in 2010, but since that time has developed several multifamily projects.