The building at 1538 Wazee St. sold for $2.6 million. (Matt Geiger/BusinessDen)
When the Rocky Mountain High dispensary began leasing space at 1538 Wazee St. in 2010, back when the marijuana industry was still young and controversial, its landlord asked them not to put a pot leaf on the door.
“That’s exactly what they did,” said their landlord, Jesse White.
Now, those once-obstinate tenants own that building. The chain, which has 10 locations across the state, bought the 6,250-square-foot property from White on Tuesday for $2.6 million, public records show. That’s almost $420 a square foot.
Jesse White
White purchased the property in May 2008 for $1.83 million, records show. He had been in talks for several years with the dispensary about a possible sale, but it didn’t make sense until now, he said.
“In all actuality, the 5 percent I get on the cash I just got is what I would get on rents, anyway, which shows how depressed the rent there (downtown) is,” White said.
Located a half-block from the 16th Street Mall, the two-story building with an underground heated garage was first constructed in 1886, per a brochure for a previous listing of the property. Problems with homelessness in the area also contributed to White’s sale of the space.
“We had folks basically living in the walkway, how you get in to get upstairs,” he said.
White used the upstairs to house offices for his company, Apollo Operating, an oil and gas firm. At one point, White said, his business was the 26th-largest of its kind in the state.
“I was no different than an ExxonMobil, just on a very small scale,” he said.
A photo 1528-1538 Wazee St., taken between 1895-1905. (Courtesy Denver Public Library)
White, 47, moved to Colorado in 2000. He was a “petroleum land man,” selling land to oil developers. In 2005, White figured he could just develop the land himself and sell the resources he extracted, so he founded Apollo.
But a challenging regulatory environment made it difficult for business to continue, White said. So he ceased the operational side of his firm in the early-to-mid-2010s, opting to hold onto land and residuals he received from previous transactions, which he calls his “mailbox money.”
“I’m playing the passive income game now,” White said.
In 2019, Apollo cleared out of the upstairs offices, and White rented to a separate oil and gas firm. That firm’s lease expires in July of this year, which helped White’s decision to sell.
“I did have trepidation about selling it — they’re not making new properties in downtown Denver … but a bird in the hand is way better than two in the bush. And this sale was a bird in the hand,” he said.
The building at 1538 Wazee St. sold for $2.6 million. (Matt Geiger/BusinessDen)
When the Rocky Mountain High dispensary began leasing space at 1538 Wazee St. in 2010, back when the marijuana industry was still young and controversial, its landlord asked them not to put a pot leaf on the door.
“That’s exactly what they did,” said their landlord, Jesse White.
Now, those once-obstinate tenants own that building. The chain, which has 10 locations across the state, bought the 6,250-square-foot property from White on Tuesday for $2.6 million, public records show. That’s almost $420 a square foot.
Jesse White
White purchased the property in May 2008 for $1.83 million, records show. He had been in talks for several years with the dispensary about a possible sale, but it didn’t make sense until now, he said.
“In all actuality, the 5 percent I get on the cash I just got is what I would get on rents, anyway, which shows how depressed the rent there (downtown) is,” White said.
Located a half-block from the 16th Street Mall, the two-story building with an underground heated garage was first constructed in 1886, per a brochure for a previous listing of the property. Problems with homelessness in the area also contributed to White’s sale of the space.
“We had folks basically living in the walkway, how you get in to get upstairs,” he said.
White used the upstairs to house offices for his company, Apollo Operating, an oil and gas firm. At one point, White said, his business was the 26th-largest of its kind in the state.
“I was no different than an ExxonMobil, just on a very small scale,” he said.
A photo 1528-1538 Wazee St., taken between 1895-1905. (Courtesy Denver Public Library)
White, 47, moved to Colorado in 2000. He was a “petroleum land man,” selling land to oil developers. In 2005, White figured he could just develop the land himself and sell the resources he extracted, so he founded Apollo.
But a challenging regulatory environment made it difficult for business to continue, White said. So he ceased the operational side of his firm in the early-to-mid-2010s, opting to hold onto land and residuals he received from previous transactions, which he calls his “mailbox money.”
“I’m playing the passive income game now,” White said.
In 2019, Apollo cleared out of the upstairs offices, and White rented to a separate oil and gas firm. That firm’s lease expires in July of this year, which helped White’s decision to sell.
“I did have trepidation about selling it — they’re not making new properties in downtown Denver … but a bird in the hand is way better than two in the bush. And this sale was a bird in the hand,” he said.
