Three downtown office towers sell on same day, for combined $330M

Downtown Denver’s office tower market heated up in a big way last week, with three sales on the same day totaling more than $300 million.

Public records show the following buildings sold on Thursday:

• Civic Center Plaza, the 22-story building at 1560 Broadway, for $124.69 million
• The 22-story building at 1700 Broadway, for $78 million
• The 24-story building at 410 17th St., for $127.25 million

Here are details regarding the three transactions:

Civic Center Plaza, 1560 Broadway

The 22-story Civic Center Plaza office building at 1560 Broadway sold for $124.69 million. (Photos by Thomas Gounley)

Civic Center Owner LLC purchased the 22-story Civic Center Plaza building at 1560 N. Broadway last week for $124.69 million, according to county records. The entity lists an office address that corresponds to that of Los Angeles-based Rising Realty Partners.

The building, which according to marketing materials was completed in 1984, is 598,592 square feet, making the deal worth $208 a square foot.

Rising Realty did not respond to a request for comment. The company does not appear to own any other properties in Denver; the portfolio on its website only features properties in Southern California, including the 42-story One California Plaza tower in Los Angeles.

An entrance to Civic Center Plaza, at 1560 Broadway.

Sellers Beacon Capital Partners and Callahan Capital Partners (recently acquired by Ivanhoe Cambridge) purchased the building in March 2012, for $80 million, records show.

Given its proximity to the Capitol, Civic Center Plaza has a heavy government presence. Tenants include the Colorado Division of Insurance, the Office of the Colorado State Public Defender and the Colorado Medical Board, along with private firms like architecture and engineering firm Stantec.

Coworking giant WeWork has also leased about 60,000 square feet in the building.

410 17th St.

The 24-story office tower at 410 17th St. sold for $127.25 million.

RREF III-P 410 17th St LLC purchased the 24-story building at 410 17th St. for $127.25 million, according to county records. The entity lists an address that is care of Rialto Capital Management, and an executive with that firm signed loan paperwork.

The building is 433,046 square feet, making the deal worth $294 a square foot. Tenants include Bonanza Creek Energy and EnerCom.

Seller 410 17th Street Property Owner LLC, an entity affiliated with Ivanhoe Cambridge, purchased the building for $81.5 million in March 2012, records show.

Rialto and a partner recently purchased the former CenturyLink building at 930 15th St., which is set for a major facelift.

1700 Broadway

The 22-story office tower at 1700 Broadway sold for $78 million.

BCSP 1700 Broadway Property LLC purchased the 22-story building at 1700 N. Broadway for $78 million, according to county records. The entity lists an address that corresponds to the headquarters of Beacon Capital.

The building was sold by Artis HRA Broadway 1700 LP, an entity affiliated with Artis REIT, which purchased it in May 2013 for $66 million, records show.

Tenants include wealth management firm Brown & Co. and law firm Wells, Anderson & Race.

More background

Beacon Capital Partners still owns the Wells Fargo Center, as well as RiNo’s The Hub. The firm did not respond to requests for comment made over the weekend.

At $127.25 million, the sale of 410 17th St. is the largest downtown office transaction so far in 2019. Other significant transactions include the January sale of the 26-story 1600 Broadway for $111 million, the March sale of 1705 17th St. for $76 million and Chicago-based Novel Coworking’s April purchase of the 17-story 1801 Broadway for $40.2 million.

Counting non-office properties, the city’s largest transaction so far this year remains the sale of Whole Foods-anchored Union Denver apartment complex for $304 million.