Barbizon Lighting’s clients include Meow Wolf. (Courtesy Barbizon Lighting)
They lit up Meow Wolf and Ball Arena. Now, they have to turn the lights on in a new place of their own.
After landing in what is now Central Park over two decades ago, Barbizon Light of the Rockies is downsizing and moving northwest to Cole.
It’s a “cathartic” step for the firm, said Rick Loudenburg, who first brought New York-based Barbizon to the West in 1996.
Rick Loudenburg
“It was literally airport wasteland back in the day,” he said of the area, then known as Stapleton, in the late 1990s.
Now, Loudenburg said, he’s leaving before someone tells him to go.
“We’re right in the middle by Central Park … and someone is gonna want to develop that. We didn’t want someone to say ‘Your lease is up’,” Loudenburg said.
Barbizon, known primarily for its lighting installations in entertainment settings, has taken about 8,000 square feet spread across four units at 3801 Race St., which will be used for office, showroom and storage space.
That’s slightly smaller than the company’s existing 11,000-square-foot location at 8269 E. 23rd Ave.
Outside of the real estate landscape, Barbizon’s downsizing is primarily driven by advancements in lighting technology, which has replaced the need for businesses to keep large inventories, Loudenburg said.
While the warehouse space is somewhat nondescript, Barbizon has worked on high-profile venues such as Red Rocks and Casa Bonita.
“I got to meet (South Park creator) Trey (Parker) and did my best Cartman for him,” Loudenburg said.
Loudenburg, 57, grew up in Arvada and attended Pomona High School. He graduated from CU and majored in architecture. “A very unusual degree for the business we’re in,” he said, noting most of his colleagues have a theater background.
“When I first started, I did everything,” Loudenburg said.
Now, he has 20 employees in Denver, the second-most out of all Barbizon locations, which includes offices in London, Atlanta and Phoenix. In revenue, Denver has gone from a few million dollars to north of $25 million, also the second-highest grossing location, Loudenburg added.
Without moving, the business’ Stapleton/Central Park address changed three times due to development and real estate changes in the area, Loudenburg said. He said in the late 1990s, movie and TV studios shot films and episodes there.
The warehouse that Barbizon is moving into.
The new space that he’s moving to in Cole will likely see development around it as well due to its proximity to the red-hot RiNo.
“It’s just not a typical warehouse,” said Aviva Sonereich of Barbizon’s new space. She and her colleague, Josh Oakley, both at Warehouse Hotline, brokered the deal on behalf of the lighting firm.
Barbizon’s new warehouse was built in 1955 and was recently a vintage car dealership. That business moved in 2018 and sold the 35,000-square-foot space for $4.33 million, about $125 per square foot.
“Even though their use is more warehouse (oriented), they wanted to be in the community … they didn’t want to be outside in a little concrete park,” Sonereich said of Barbizon.
Barbizon Lighting’s clients include Meow Wolf. (Courtesy Barbizon Lighting)
They lit up Meow Wolf and Ball Arena. Now, they have to turn the lights on in a new place of their own.
After landing in what is now Central Park over two decades ago, Barbizon Light of the Rockies is downsizing and moving northwest to Cole.
It’s a “cathartic” step for the firm, said Rick Loudenburg, who first brought New York-based Barbizon to the West in 1996.
Rick Loudenburg
“It was literally airport wasteland back in the day,” he said of the area, then known as Stapleton, in the late 1990s.
Now, Loudenburg said, he’s leaving before someone tells him to go.
“We’re right in the middle by Central Park … and someone is gonna want to develop that. We didn’t want someone to say ‘Your lease is up’,” Loudenburg said.
Barbizon, known primarily for its lighting installations in entertainment settings, has taken about 8,000 square feet spread across four units at 3801 Race St., which will be used for office, showroom and storage space.
That’s slightly smaller than the company’s existing 11,000-square-foot location at 8269 E. 23rd Ave.
Outside of the real estate landscape, Barbizon’s downsizing is primarily driven by advancements in lighting technology, which has replaced the need for businesses to keep large inventories, Loudenburg said.
While the warehouse space is somewhat nondescript, Barbizon has worked on high-profile venues such as Red Rocks and Casa Bonita.
“I got to meet (South Park creator) Trey (Parker) and did my best Cartman for him,” Loudenburg said.
Loudenburg, 57, grew up in Arvada and attended Pomona High School. He graduated from CU and majored in architecture. “A very unusual degree for the business we’re in,” he said, noting most of his colleagues have a theater background.
“When I first started, I did everything,” Loudenburg said.
Now, he has 20 employees in Denver, the second-most out of all Barbizon locations, which includes offices in London, Atlanta and Phoenix. In revenue, Denver has gone from a few million dollars to north of $25 million, also the second-highest grossing location, Loudenburg added.
Without moving, the business’ Stapleton/Central Park address changed three times due to development and real estate changes in the area, Loudenburg said. He said in the late 1990s, movie and TV studios shot films and episodes there.
The warehouse that Barbizon is moving into.
The new space that he’s moving to in Cole will likely see development around it as well due to its proximity to the red-hot RiNo.
“It’s just not a typical warehouse,” said Aviva Sonereich of Barbizon’s new space. She and her colleague, Josh Oakley, both at Warehouse Hotline, brokered the deal on behalf of the lighting firm.
Barbizon’s new warehouse was built in 1955 and was recently a vintage car dealership. That business moved in 2018 and sold the 35,000-square-foot space for $4.33 million, about $125 per square foot.
“Even though their use is more warehouse (oriented), they wanted to be in the community … they didn’t want to be outside in a little concrete park,” Sonereich said of Barbizon.
