The two restaurant spaces sold for just under $2 million. (Matt Geiger/BusinessDen)
Two restaurant units in Denver’s Upper Downtown have sold for just 5 percent more than they fetched a decade ago.
“Certainly since COVID it’s gone downhill,” seller Doug Antonoff said of the neighborhood. “Office vacancies are 50-60 percent around there, homelessness was up, mall construction took forever — all those factors negatively impacted the property.”
Antonoff, owner of real estate firm Antonoff & Co., sold the condos on the ground floor of 1617 California St. for a touch below $2 million, according to public records. The two units are around 5,000 square feet combined, making the deal worth approximately $441 a foot.
Antonoff purchased the condos in 2014 for $1.87 million, about $100,000 less than the recent deal, records show.
Both units are occupied by Asian restaurants, Chopstickers and Kyoto Ramen. The owners of Chopstickers — Zhijian Liu and wife Mengjiao Li — were the buyers in the deal, represented by Brady Kinsey of Kinsey & Co. Commercial Real Estate.
The couple approached Antonoff about buying the space a few months ago, he said.
Attempts to reach Liu and Li by press time were unsuccessful. According to Westword, the couple opened the inaugural Chopstickers in Fort Collins in 2021, and added the location at 1617 California St. last year.
The property dates back to the late 1800s, per public records. It’s known as the Feldhauser-Baldwin building and was designated a city landmark in 1995. Antonoff said it’s showing its age.
“I think the building has a ton of physical issues,” he said. “It was just one thing after another after another, and the partners just got tired of waiting, so we decided to take the money and do something else.”
Doug Antonoff
Antonoff said he didn’t do much to the space besides general maintenance and improvements each time the restaurant spaces turned over. His family real estate firm dates back to the 1960s; Antonoff is the firm’s third generation.
Antonoff & Co. mostly handles property management and other administrative work. Antonoff started a brokerage arm with fellow real estate professional Jeff Hirschfeld in the early 1990s. There’s six brokers with the group currently, he said, primarily specializing in retail assets.
While Antonoff has lived through several cycles of Denver real estate, he’s not sure how long it’ll take to dig out of the current lull in the downtown market, especially for older office properties.
“I think long term it’ll come back, but I think it’s gonna take some government intervention and some long-term projects to convert office to other uses. You see these buildings getting sold for land value, and you wonder what the end game is going to be,” he said.
“I’m bullish on it long term – but I don’t know if long term is 10 years out or further.”
The two restaurant spaces sold for just under $2 million. (Matt Geiger/BusinessDen)
Two restaurant units in Denver’s Upper Downtown have sold for just 5 percent more than they fetched a decade ago.
“Certainly since COVID it’s gone downhill,” seller Doug Antonoff said of the neighborhood. “Office vacancies are 50-60 percent around there, homelessness was up, mall construction took forever — all those factors negatively impacted the property.”
Antonoff, owner of real estate firm Antonoff & Co., sold the condos on the ground floor of 1617 California St. for a touch below $2 million, according to public records. The two units are around 5,000 square feet combined, making the deal worth approximately $441 a foot.
Antonoff purchased the condos in 2014 for $1.87 million, about $100,000 less than the recent deal, records show.
Both units are occupied by Asian restaurants, Chopstickers and Kyoto Ramen. The owners of Chopstickers — Zhijian Liu and wife Mengjiao Li — were the buyers in the deal, represented by Brady Kinsey of Kinsey & Co. Commercial Real Estate.
The couple approached Antonoff about buying the space a few months ago, he said.
Attempts to reach Liu and Li by press time were unsuccessful. According to Westword, the couple opened the inaugural Chopstickers in Fort Collins in 2021, and added the location at 1617 California St. last year.
The property dates back to the late 1800s, per public records. It’s known as the Feldhauser-Baldwin building and was designated a city landmark in 1995. Antonoff said it’s showing its age.
“I think the building has a ton of physical issues,” he said. “It was just one thing after another after another, and the partners just got tired of waiting, so we decided to take the money and do something else.”
Doug Antonoff
Antonoff said he didn’t do much to the space besides general maintenance and improvements each time the restaurant spaces turned over. His family real estate firm dates back to the 1960s; Antonoff is the firm’s third generation.
Antonoff & Co. mostly handles property management and other administrative work. Antonoff started a brokerage arm with fellow real estate professional Jeff Hirschfeld in the early 1990s. There’s six brokers with the group currently, he said, primarily specializing in retail assets.
While Antonoff has lived through several cycles of Denver real estate, he’s not sure how long it’ll take to dig out of the current lull in the downtown market, especially for older office properties.
“I think long term it’ll come back, but I think it’s gonna take some government intervention and some long-term projects to convert office to other uses. You see these buildings getting sold for land value, and you wonder what the end game is going to be,” he said.
“I’m bullish on it long term – but I don’t know if long term is 10 years out or further.”
