GM Development secured $130 million in project financing, enabling the company to begin redevelopment of a historic former Veterans Affairs (VA) hospital campus into a 493-unit Class A mixed-use community in Denver, Colorado.

The financing was arranged by Walker & Dunlop. Chris Rumul, Jason Silva, Cole Parker and Mike Valucci of Walker & Dunlop FHA Finance on behalf of GM Development. The project incorporates historic tax credits as a key component of the capital stack, enabling the adaptive reuse of the long-vacant property.

Located at the northwest corner of East 9th Avenue and Clermont Street, the 8.22-acre former VA hospital campus will be redeveloped into a Class A mixed-use community at 1055 North Clermont Street. The project will deliver 493 rental units. It will also include more than 50,000 square feet of retail and medical office space.

GM paid $41 million for the property in 2022.

JLL Capital Markets arranged $107.8M in financing for Adler Real Estate Partners’ acquisition of industrial assets in Denver, Charlotte and Houston.

The package included $61.5M for the SE Denver Light Industrial Portfolio, which spans 484K SF across Arapahoe Business Park I & II and 345 Inverness in the southeast submarket.

The broader financing covered two other Adler buys: $16.8M for Harris Ridge Business Center, a 160K SF light industrial property in Charlotte and $29.6M for the Houston Prime Shallow Bay Portfolio, an eight-building, 276K SF group of assets in Houston’s Energy Corridor and The Woodlands.

The deal comes as large financing packages crop up in Denver. Last week, PMG secured $107.5M in construction financing for Waldorf Astoria Residences Denver Cherry Creek, a 37-unit luxury condo project at 185 N. Steele St. 

SALES

Pinnacle Real Estate Advisors brokered the $2.9M sale of a 15.5K SF industrial building at 4571 Ivy St. in Denver. Mark Alley handled both sides of the transaction.

CONSTRUCTION AND DEVELOPMENT

AdventHealth Littleton opened its new Heart & Vascular Institute, a 143K SF, five-story tower on its campus. The center includes three cardiovascular operating rooms, three cardiac catheterization and electrophysiology labs, and a hybrid operating room. It was developed in partnership with South Denver Cardiology.

THIS AND THAT

The City and County of Denver cut 835 positions, or about 7.6% of its workforce, on Aug. 20 to close a $250M budget gap. Nearly 700 of the jobs were unfilled, but an Axios analysis found 46.9% of the cuts could affect commercial and residential real estate. 

That includes 27.8% of staff at the Climate Action, Sustainability and Resiliency department, which oversees the Energize Denver ordinance, and 19.1% at Community Planning and Development. The move comes months after Mayor Mike Johnston signed an executive order creating a new permitting office with a 180-day review goal.

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Urban Egg opened its third Denver location on Aug. 25 at 1550 Wewatta St. in the Triangle Building. It is its 11th overall location. The downtown spot seats 119 people inside and 44 on the patio, and it is the second to feature the brand’s new prototype design.

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Despite two-bedroom rents falling 9.3% year-over-year, Denver remains the 25th most expensive rental market in the U.S., according to Zumper. Median rents in August were $1,680 for a one-bedroom and $2,240 for a two-bedroom.

Boulder-based real estate investment and development firm Conscience Bay Company (CBC) completed the purchase of Industry Denver, located at 3001 Brighton Blvd, for $19 million. The 160,000-square-foot building will be rebranded as ‘Fabrica RiNo’. 

Conscience Bay Company purchased the property from Clarion Partners, who the Denver Business Journal reported had defaulted on two loans on the property valued at $28.67 million. CBRE represented the seller, and Conscience Bay Company was not represented. 

Originally built in the 1940s as a cold storage warehouse and later serving as the city’s primary food market, construction on the building to repurpose it for modern commercial use began in 2013. The building was one of the first major office developments in the RiNo Art District. 

The building offers private offices, common areas, and turnkey spaces ranging from 500 to 12,000 square feet. Over 20 companies currently call Fabrica RiNo home, including Core Power Yoga, Snooze and Will Call, encompassing nearly 4 acres of office and common spaces. 

Two real estate investment firms have teamed up to buy The 410, a 24-story office building located in the heart of Downtown Denver. Cress Capital, in collaboration with Denver-based E2M Ventures, acquired the loan on the property earlier this year and subsequently negotiated a deed-in-lieu of foreclosure with the prior owner, Ares Management. With an original balance of $113 million, the loan’s unpaid balance was $96.2 million.

Situated at 410 17th Street, the property underwent a major renovation in 2021 and includes approximately 440,000 square feet of office space and a detached eight-story parking structure.

Located within blocks of the Colorado State Capitol, the property features a contemporary lobby and an array of premium amenities, including a state-of-the-art fitness center, conference and training facilities, an inviting outdoor tenant lounge, and the Little Owl Coffee Bar. Nearly 35,000 square feet of spec suites are ready for immediate occupancy.

Detroit, Chicago and Denver have the highest risk scores among the top 25 metro areas for maturing multifamily loans, Kroll Bond Rating Agency (KBRA) said in a new report. KBRA weighed apartment supply and demand metrics from several sources to derive a risk scale between 1 and 25 for each metric, with one being the most favorable and 25 the worst. 

“In 2024 and 2025, 8.6% of multifamily’s principal balance for the largest 25 MSAs is scheduled to mature ($15.9 billion),” KBTA reported. However, “the percentage of loans maturing in the period can vary meaningfully by MSA. Maturing loans in MSAs with high risk scores could face greater refinancing challenges relative to those with lower scores.” 

For each of the three highest-risk metro areas, low employment growth was a factor, KBRA reported. Detroit and Chicago also exhibited negative population growth along with a relatively higher Home Ownership Affordability Monitor (HOAM) Index, as measured by the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta. Denver’s high risk score stemmed mainly from supply issues, while its vacancy rate (8.8%) and percentage of inventory under construction (11.3%) are both higher than the national average. 

At the other end of the spectrum was Las Vegas, which had the lowest risk score, albeit only one-third better than the next two lowest—Houston and San Diego, which had the same score (48).  

Las Vegas benefited mainly from its demand metrics, including current and forecast strong employment and population growth, as well as a favorable HOAM ranking. Houston also benefited from positive employment and population growth, while San Diego, meanwhile, had more positive supply metrics.