The building at 304 Inverness Way S. was constructed in 1985. (Courtesy of Nate Melchior)
Nate Melchior is slicing and dicing a distressed office building in Douglas County to attract more tenants to the space.
“I know it’s talked about a lot, but it is what’s working right now — being proactive on spec suites,” he said. “Making sure that you’ve got the 1,500-, 3,000-, 5,000-square-foot-option, that’s our focus.”
Melchior is the co-owner of Dunton Commercial, a longtime Denver property management firm. The business manages roughly 5 million square feet of office and retail space. His business took over management of the 137,000-square-foot office building at 304 Inverness Way S., across Interstate 25 from Park Meadows mall, last month.
The building is owned by the former mortgage holder, Life Insurance Company of the Southwest. It took the building back in July 2023 through a deed in lieu of foreclosure after the previous owner, Stream Realty Partners, defaulted on its $14 million note. Stream bought the building in June 2014 for $16.3 million.
Melchior plans to increase occupancy in the building – currently 35% vacant – through prebuilt small offices that are move-in ready. The previous company managing the building, LCP Management, also added some to the building.
“The most active office users are smaller companies. If you go … larger, corporate, you tend to see more remote work trends still hanging on,” Melchior said.
Nate Melchior
The building’s owner has already overhauled its lobby. Melchior plans to add more amenities to complement the upgrades, like a refurbished conference room and other common area improvements.
But Dunton is more than just an operator of these buildings. It also has started going out and buying them.
The business purchased its first property, a retail center in Thornton, in 2019. Three years later, it started snapping up office space, most recently purchasing a DTC property at a steep discount. It now has an ownership stake in about 1.5 million square feet across the state and 27 people working at the firm. Melchior joined the company in 2018.
“We really believe, very selectively, in the opportunity that’s out there with office right now,” Melchior said.
The Colorado native and Colorado State University graduate, who has spent his entire career in real estate, said concerns about security and safety from downtown tenants have continued to drive prospects out of Denver’s urban core. And as more lower quality suburban properties get demolished, redeveloped or converted into residences, the supply in the metro’s periphery will continue to shrink, he thinks.
So far, he has some receipts to prove this theory.
He took his first Denver-area office purchase, at 350 Indiana St. on the Lakewood/Golden line, from 55% to 88% leased over the past two years. He’s also signed five new leases and renewed several others in the first seven months of ownership at Prentice Plaza, 8101 E. Prentice Ave., in the DTC.
Melchior hopes 304 Inverness will be one of the buildings that succeeds in this environment.
“For groups like the ownership group of 304 Inverness, we truly provide a differentiated service … we’re much more hands on, much more relationship-oriented.”
Read more: Troubled towers: Breaking down Denver’s distressed office properties
The building at 304 Inverness Way S. was constructed in 1985. (Courtesy of Nate Melchior)
Nate Melchior is slicing and dicing a distressed office building in Douglas County to attract more tenants to the space.
“I know it’s talked about a lot, but it is what’s working right now — being proactive on spec suites,” he said. “Making sure that you’ve got the 1,500-, 3,000-, 5,000-square-foot-option, that’s our focus.”
Melchior is the co-owner of Dunton Commercial, a longtime Denver property management firm. The business manages roughly 5 million square feet of office and retail space. His business took over management of the 137,000-square-foot office building at 304 Inverness Way S., across Interstate 25 from Park Meadows mall, last month.
The building is owned by the former mortgage holder, Life Insurance Company of the Southwest. It took the building back in July 2023 through a deed in lieu of foreclosure after the previous owner, Stream Realty Partners, defaulted on its $14 million note. Stream bought the building in June 2014 for $16.3 million.
Melchior plans to increase occupancy in the building – currently 35% vacant – through prebuilt small offices that are move-in ready. The previous company managing the building, LCP Management, also added some to the building.
“The most active office users are smaller companies. If you go … larger, corporate, you tend to see more remote work trends still hanging on,” Melchior said.
Nate Melchior
The building’s owner has already overhauled its lobby. Melchior plans to add more amenities to complement the upgrades, like a refurbished conference room and other common area improvements.
But Dunton is more than just an operator of these buildings. It also has started going out and buying them.
The business purchased its first property, a retail center in Thornton, in 2019. Three years later, it started snapping up office space, most recently purchasing a DTC property at a steep discount. It now has an ownership stake in about 1.5 million square feet across the state and 27 people working at the firm. Melchior joined the company in 2018.
“We really believe, very selectively, in the opportunity that’s out there with office right now,” Melchior said.
The Colorado native and Colorado State University graduate, who has spent his entire career in real estate, said concerns about security and safety from downtown tenants have continued to drive prospects out of Denver’s urban core. And as more lower quality suburban properties get demolished, redeveloped or converted into residences, the supply in the metro’s periphery will continue to shrink, he thinks.
So far, he has some receipts to prove this theory.
He took his first Denver-area office purchase, at 350 Indiana St. on the Lakewood/Golden line, from 55% to 88% leased over the past two years. He’s also signed five new leases and renewed several others in the first seven months of ownership at Prentice Plaza, 8101 E. Prentice Ave., in the DTC.
Melchior hopes 304 Inverness will be one of the buildings that succeeds in this environment.
“For groups like the ownership group of 304 Inverness, we truly provide a differentiated service … we’re much more hands on, much more relationship-oriented.”
Read more: Troubled towers: Breaking down Denver’s distressed office properties
