The remnants of Bonnie Brae Tavern, 740 S. University Blvd., as seen on June 10. (Hayden Kim/BusinessDen)
As the former Bonnie Brae Tavern building comes down along University Boulevard, the land is now moving on to its next of kin.
Or rather, “Akin” — the new apartment brand from two local developers.
“It’s been really hard, and I think we’ve been fortunate because the real estate fundamentals are really good, it’s a great location,” said David Pietsch III, partner at Alpine Investments.
Alpine and fellow Denver development firm Revesco Properties are planning a three-story, 46-unit apartment building at 740 S. University Blvd., where the Bonnie Brae Tavern operated for nearly 90 years before closing in June 2022.
The two firms bought the land, which spans about three-fourths of an acre, three years ago for $4.5 million. In January, Missouri-based Great Southern Bank lent the partnership $3.1 million, records show. Pietsch declined to give a total development cost but said the project is being financed by a private equity firm in town and other, mostly local, private real estate investor connections.
The project will be the third Akin-branded apartment building to break ground in Denver. The two firms recently wrapped up complexes at 46th Avenue and Tennyson Street in Berkeley and 955 Bannock St. in the Golden Triangle. Another is planned at 20th Street and Chestnut Place in Union Station North.
“They’re akin to a great neighborhood, a great opportunity for walkable retail, parks, a lot of the opportunity for our tenants to take advantage of great neighborhoods like Tennyson Street, the Golden Triangle,” Pietsch said.
“Bonnie Brae really fits into that.”
A rendering of the development, slated to finish construction in the spring of 2027. (Courtesy of Alpine Investments)
An existing retail building that held the tavern and a dry cleaner, along with a retail building at the corner of Ohio Avenue and University Boulevard, are being demolished; bulldozers got started on that work Monday. It follows a month of rerouting a sewer line on Ohio Avenue.
Next up: excavation work to dig out an underground parking garage. Then the project will finally go vertical. Pietsch expects construction to wrap up by the spring of 2027. Craine Architecture designed the building.
The development also includes 8,100 square feet of ground-floor retail, with one undisclosed tenant already signed on.
“We think it’s a coffee shop and a restaurant to fill out the remainder – but we’re pretty flexible,” Pietsch said.
Alpine also has an office building planned in Cherry Creek. Revesco, meanwhile, is the developer, in partnership with billionaire Stan Kroenke, behind the planned River Mile project where Elitch Gardens currently sits.
The remnants of Bonnie Brae Tavern, 740 S. University Blvd., as seen on June 10. (Hayden Kim/BusinessDen)
As the former Bonnie Brae Tavern building comes down along University Boulevard, the land is now moving on to its next of kin.
Or rather, “Akin” — the new apartment brand from two local developers.
“It’s been really hard, and I think we’ve been fortunate because the real estate fundamentals are really good, it’s a great location,” said David Pietsch III, partner at Alpine Investments.
Alpine and fellow Denver development firm Revesco Properties are planning a three-story, 46-unit apartment building at 740 S. University Blvd., where the Bonnie Brae Tavern operated for nearly 90 years before closing in June 2022.
The two firms bought the land, which spans about three-fourths of an acre, three years ago for $4.5 million. In January, Missouri-based Great Southern Bank lent the partnership $3.1 million, records show. Pietsch declined to give a total development cost but said the project is being financed by a private equity firm in town and other, mostly local, private real estate investor connections.
The project will be the third Akin-branded apartment building to break ground in Denver. The two firms recently wrapped up complexes at 46th Avenue and Tennyson Street in Berkeley and 955 Bannock St. in the Golden Triangle. Another is planned at 20th Street and Chestnut Place in Union Station North.
“They’re akin to a great neighborhood, a great opportunity for walkable retail, parks, a lot of the opportunity for our tenants to take advantage of great neighborhoods like Tennyson Street, the Golden Triangle,” Pietsch said.
“Bonnie Brae really fits into that.”
A rendering of the development, slated to finish construction in the spring of 2027. (Courtesy of Alpine Investments)
An existing retail building that held the tavern and a dry cleaner, along with a retail building at the corner of Ohio Avenue and University Boulevard, are being demolished; bulldozers got started on that work Monday. It follows a month of rerouting a sewer line on Ohio Avenue.
Next up: excavation work to dig out an underground parking garage. Then the project will finally go vertical. Pietsch expects construction to wrap up by the spring of 2027. Craine Architecture designed the building.
The development also includes 8,100 square feet of ground-floor retail, with one undisclosed tenant already signed on.
“We think it’s a coffee shop and a restaurant to fill out the remainder – but we’re pretty flexible,” Pietsch said.
Alpine also has an office building planned in Cherry Creek. Revesco, meanwhile, is the developer, in partnership with billionaire Stan Kroenke, behind the planned River Mile project where Elitch Gardens currently sits.
