Colorado Real Estate Journal - August 3, 2016
A historic building located where Lower Downtown Denver meets River North sold for $21.2 million, according to Denver County records. Urban Renaissance Group and Stars Investments bought 2301 Blake St., a 52,859-square foot office/retail building, along with two parking lots with potential for development. “We’re thrilled to add this beautiful historic building to our growing local portfolio,” URG founder and Chief Executive Officer Patrick Callahan said in an announcement. “RiNo has experienced an incredible recent transformation, and we look forward to continuing work in this thriving city as an owner and developer.” The popular Blake Street Tavern occupies 17,902 sf in the 3-story building, which has 34,957 sf of office space that recently was leased to Spaces. Spaces, Regus’ co-working brand, will move into the building in October. URG and Stars are exploring options for the parking lots, which could accommodate commercial and/or residential uses, Callahan said. The acquisition is the second in the Denver market for URG and Stars Investments. They bought the 121,000-sf Market Center in LoDo for $29 million last September. “We are delighted to complete our second investment in Denver, in a location we believe has room to further consolidate in the future,” said Oscar Boettiger, head of real estate investments at Stars. “Denver is a relevant market in our investment strategy as its real estate market continues to strengthen into a vibrant and amenity rich city.” With “two strong tenants and the potential for some development down the road,” 2301 Blake drew interest from in- and out-of-state investors, private and institutional, according to R.C. Myles of Cushman & Wakefield, who represented seller Oakwood Real Estate Partners with Cushman & Wakefield’s James Brady. “It was a very broad range of interest. I think that’s an indicator of the location, by Coors Field and proximate to RiNo. It’s just in the middle of everything,” Myles said. Listed on the National Register of Historic Places, 2301 Blake originally was a an office/warehouse for McPhee & McGinnity Co., one of the West’s leading building materials suppliers, according to History Colorado’s website. The brick-faced building was built in 1913; the existing office and retail improvements date to 1943 and 1972, respectively. The building sold for $10.05 million in March 2015. Urban Renaissance Group acquires, develops and manages properties in Seattle; Bellevue, Washington; Denver; and Portland, Oregon. The company owns and/or operates a 10 million-sf office investment and management portfolio. Stars Investments is an asset management company that manages the financial, private equity and real estate investments of Chilean entrepreneur Felipe Ibañez Scott. Other News U.S. Meat Export Federation Inc. leased 10,223 square feet of office space at 1660 Lincoln St., Suite 2800, in Denver. Sandy Feld and Trent Rice of NAI Shames Makovsky represented the tenant. UPI 1660 Lincoln LLC is the landlord. Newfields Mining Design Technical Services LLC leased 10,200 sf of office space at 9400 Station St., Suite 300, in Lone Tree. NAI Shames Makovsky broker Bill Maher represented the tenant. Jamie Gard, Courtney Hasson and Casey Grosscope of Newmark Grubb Knight Frank represented the landlord, Lincoln Station Phase One LLC. G27 LLC paid $705,000 for a 9,699-sf office property at 25107 Genesee Trail Road in Jefferson County. Bill Maher of NAI Shames Makovsky represented the buyer. Frank Griffin of Newmark Grubb Knight Frank represented the seller, WAG Inc.