Unico Properties Sells Denver CBD High-Rise

By Scott Baltic

1660 Lincoln St. in Denver

Unico Properties has sold 1660 Lincoln, a 284,600-square-foot Class A office building in downtown Denver, to Westport Capital Partners. The 28-story asset was 70 percent occupied at the time of sale and changed hands for $67.2 million. HFF negotiated the deal on behalf of the seller. According to Yardi Matrix data, HFF worked on behalf of the buyer to secure a $51.3 million, three-year, floating-rate acquisition loan through ACORE Capital. HFF did not reply to Commercial Property Executive’s request for additional information.

The property was completed in 1972 and underwent a $17 million repositioning in 2016. The renovation process included a new lobby and entryway and the installation of an all-new central plant and HVAC systems, among other improvements.

The tower is located in the uptown area of Denver’s CBD, at 1660 Lincoln St., while the entrance for its adjacent eight-story parking garage is at 1655 Sherman St, The high-rise is in walking distance of reportedly more than 100 dining and entertainment options. It has a WalkScore of 95, a TransitScore of 90 and a Bike Score of 97.

The HFF investment advisory and debt placement teams included Senior Managing Director Mark Katz, Senior Director Peter Merrion and Director Leon McBroom.

A strong market

Denver enjoys one of the lowest large-metro unemployment rates in the nation, 2.6 percent, according to a JLL report. The downside is that a shortage of skilled labor might undercut tenant demand.

In 2017, the Uptown/East Side submarket saw a very small amount of negative net absorption on its inventory of 5 million square feet, per JLL. There were no deliveries in 2017, and no new space is currently in the pipeline.

Image via Google Street View