The building at 1525 Blake St. in downtown Denver was formerly home to Rio Grande Mexican Restaurant. (Matt Geiger/BusinessDen)
Restaurateur Francois Safieddine has dished up a pair of properties for sale.
The owner of well-known concepts such as ViewHouse and My Neighbor Felix has generally been a buyer of real estate in recent years, making deals in RiNo and LoDo within the last year. But he’s now searching for a buyer of two of his holdings.
One is 1525 Blake St. in LoDo, while the other is the Columbine Mill, a century-old structure at 5798 S. Rapp St. in downtown Littleton.
On Blake Street, Safieddine had an architect design plans for a steakhouse, even going so far as to submit a proposal to the city. But he never began work on the planned renovations.
In Littleton, not much has happened at the mill, which housed a restaurant before Safieddine bought it. In Safieddine’s seven years of ownership, the city has yet to receive any formal plans for the site, according to a city spokesman.
Safieddine did not respond to a request for comment.
1525 Blake St.
The 1525 Blake St. property includes a courtyard on the side of the building. (Matt Geiger/BusinessDen)
The two-story, 12,500-square-foot red-brick building in the heart of LoDo hit the market this month with an asking price of $6.9 million. Safieddine paid $6.25 million for it two years ago.
Listing documents note the building comes with kitchen equipment and a liquor license. The property also boasts a large patio and courtyard space.
Last year, Safieddine submitted plans to the city to redevelop the site into a concept he called “Noble,” which the documents suggest would be a steakhouse.
Those plans called for regular and private dining spaces across both floors, with a bar on the first story and a lounge on the second. The project would include a full renovation of the space with new walls around the courtyard, some right up against the sidewalk. Boss Architecture drew up the plans.
Safieddine purchased the space in July 2022 from the owners of Rio Grande Mexican Restaurant, the previous occupant in the building. Rio Grande had been there since 1999 before moving to a new space at 1745 Wazee St.
Columbine Mill
The Columbine Mill building housed a restaurant prior to being acquired by its current owner. (Courtesy Avant Group)
The Columbine Mill, arguably among Littleton’s most historic properties, was listed along with two adjacent parcels in late March by Safieddine for an asking price of $6 million.
“It’s like the cash register building for downtown Denver. It’s that but for Littleton,” said Jason Ruscio, the Avant Group broker working the listing.
The portfolio includes the mill at 5798 S. Rapp, a parcel to the north at 5788 S. Rapp and one to the east at 5789 S. Curtice St. The listed properties, which combined span a bit more than an acre, form a rectangle just off of Santa Fe Drive.
The mill building, which is vacant, is also listed separately for $1.25 million. The non-mill parcels have buildings on them with tenants inside.
Safieddine purchased the site in July 2017 for $559,000. The other properties around it were bought in January 2017 for $1.8 million.
Ruscio said that he’s seen “quite a bit of interest” on the listing. Prospective buyers have been interested in live music venues and mixed-use multifamily developments, with the mill being a retail and amenity hub for neighboring apartments.
The land around the mill is zoned for a maximum of four stories if retail is on the ground floor, per Ruscio. The most dense proposal he’s received from potential buyers so far was for an 83-unit apartment complex.
“It needs renovation for sure, I think that’s the best way to put it … It’s something that you’re going to have to work on with the city together,” Ruscio said about the mill.
Safieddine did list the space for sale or lease at least once before, in 2019. Jake Malman, now with Malman Commercial Real Estate, had the listing then and said in a text message that Safieddine’s “pricing expectations and lease expectations weren’t in line with the market.” The asking price for the portfolio was $5.5 million then.
“I had it for sale and lease. Price was too high for a sale and the lease rate and lack of TI (tenant improvement) didn’t attract tenants,” Malman said.
Columbine Mill in 1973. (Courtesy Littleton Museum, City of Littleton)
Despite the inactivity at the mill in the past seven years, it was a commercial hub for Littleton a century ago.
“It is the last remaining reminder of Littleton’s agricultural history,” said Jenny Hankinson, curator at the Littleton Museum.
Richard Little, founder of the city, platted the space. He had come to Colorado during the gold rush in 1859, but soon decided there was more opportunity in working to support the mining industry than being part of it.
“The area, being so close to the Platte, could be a great area to supply miners with food and water,” Hankinson said of the mill site.
Little sold the land off in parcels. The grain elevator that rises above the building was completed in 1921, with the single-story storefront coming earlier. It’s not clear where the name “Columbine Mill” came from, Hankinson said.
In the early 1900s, Littleton was about the only municipality between Denver and Castle Rock, so the mill served as a place where farmers could get their grain milled, or where one could buy coal or fuel for the farm.
“I wouldn’t call it a general store, but they sold a lot of stuff there,” Hankinson said.
After World War II, Littleton’s predominantly agricultural economy began to diversify. The mill was replaced with a restaurant in 1975, and since then, a number of food and beverage concepts have cycled through the space. The most recent one there appears to be the Old Mill Brewery & Grill, which closed sometime before Safieddine bought the space.
“Littleton wouldn’t have gotten its start without that agricultural history,” Hankinson said.
The building at 1525 Blake St. in downtown Denver was formerly home to Rio Grande Mexican Restaurant. (Matt Geiger/BusinessDen)
Restaurateur Francois Safieddine has dished up a pair of properties for sale.
The owner of well-known concepts such as ViewHouse and My Neighbor Felix has generally been a buyer of real estate in recent years, making deals in RiNo and LoDo within the last year. But he’s now searching for a buyer of two of his holdings.
One is 1525 Blake St. in LoDo, while the other is the Columbine Mill, a century-old structure at 5798 S. Rapp St. in downtown Littleton.
On Blake Street, Safieddine had an architect design plans for a steakhouse, even going so far as to submit a proposal to the city. But he never began work on the planned renovations.
In Littleton, not much has happened at the mill, which housed a restaurant before Safieddine bought it. In Safieddine’s seven years of ownership, the city has yet to receive any formal plans for the site, according to a city spokesman.
Safieddine did not respond to a request for comment.
1525 Blake St.
The 1525 Blake St. property includes a courtyard on the side of the building. (Matt Geiger/BusinessDen)
The two-story, 12,500-square-foot red-brick building in the heart of LoDo hit the market this month with an asking price of $6.9 million. Safieddine paid $6.25 million for it two years ago.
Listing documents note the building comes with kitchen equipment and a liquor license. The property also boasts a large patio and courtyard space.
Last year, Safieddine submitted plans to the city to redevelop the site into a concept he called “Noble,” which the documents suggest would be a steakhouse.
Those plans called for regular and private dining spaces across both floors, with a bar on the first story and a lounge on the second. The project would include a full renovation of the space with new walls around the courtyard, some right up against the sidewalk. Boss Architecture drew up the plans.
Safieddine purchased the space in July 2022 from the owners of Rio Grande Mexican Restaurant, the previous occupant in the building. Rio Grande had been there since 1999 before moving to a new space at 1745 Wazee St.
Columbine Mill
The Columbine Mill building housed a restaurant prior to being acquired by its current owner. (Courtesy Avant Group)
The Columbine Mill, arguably among Littleton’s most historic properties, was listed along with two adjacent parcels in late March by Safieddine for an asking price of $6 million.
“It’s like the cash register building for downtown Denver. It’s that but for Littleton,” said Jason Ruscio, the Avant Group broker working the listing.
The portfolio includes the mill at 5798 S. Rapp, a parcel to the north at 5788 S. Rapp and one to the east at 5789 S. Curtice St. The listed properties, which combined span a bit more than an acre, form a rectangle just off of Santa Fe Drive.
The mill building, which is vacant, is also listed separately for $1.25 million. The non-mill parcels have buildings on them with tenants inside.
Safieddine purchased the site in July 2017 for $559,000. The other properties around it were bought in January 2017 for $1.8 million.
Ruscio said that he’s seen “quite a bit of interest” on the listing. Prospective buyers have been interested in live music venues and mixed-use multifamily developments, with the mill being a retail and amenity hub for neighboring apartments.
The land around the mill is zoned for a maximum of four stories if retail is on the ground floor, per Ruscio. The most dense proposal he’s received from potential buyers so far was for an 83-unit apartment complex.
“It needs renovation for sure, I think that’s the best way to put it … It’s something that you’re going to have to work on with the city together,” Ruscio said about the mill.
Safieddine did list the space for sale or lease at least once before, in 2019. Jake Malman, now with Malman Commercial Real Estate, had the listing then and said in a text message that Safieddine’s “pricing expectations and lease expectations weren’t in line with the market.” The asking price for the portfolio was $5.5 million then.
“I had it for sale and lease. Price was too high for a sale and the lease rate and lack of TI (tenant improvement) didn’t attract tenants,” Malman said.
Columbine Mill in 1973. (Courtesy Littleton Museum, City of Littleton)
Despite the inactivity at the mill in the past seven years, it was a commercial hub for Littleton a century ago.
“It is the last remaining reminder of Littleton’s agricultural history,” said Jenny Hankinson, curator at the Littleton Museum.
Richard Little, founder of the city, platted the space. He had come to Colorado during the gold rush in 1859, but soon decided there was more opportunity in working to support the mining industry than being part of it.
“The area, being so close to the Platte, could be a great area to supply miners with food and water,” Hankinson said of the mill site.
Little sold the land off in parcels. The grain elevator that rises above the building was completed in 1921, with the single-story storefront coming earlier. It’s not clear where the name “Columbine Mill” came from, Hankinson said.
In the early 1900s, Littleton was about the only municipality between Denver and Castle Rock, so the mill served as a place where farmers could get their grain milled, or where one could buy coal or fuel for the farm.
“I wouldn’t call it a general store, but they sold a lot of stuff there,” Hankinson said.
After World War II, Littleton’s predominantly agricultural economy began to diversify. The mill was replaced with a restaurant in 1975, and since then, a number of food and beverage concepts have cycled through the space. The most recent one there appears to be the Old Mill Brewery & Grill, which closed sometime before Safieddine bought the space.
“Littleton wouldn’t have gotten its start without that agricultural history,” Hankinson said.
