Trammell Crow Co. and Clarion Partners would be hard-pressed to find a better site on Platte Street for their new 210,732-square-foot speculative office building, Riverview at 1700 Platte.
Like the adjacent Denver Union Station area, the Platte Street neighborhood is just about out of land – and certainly for a development the scale of Riverview.
The Class A building will be the largest new office building to be built in the neighborhood, occupying the last site with South Platte River frontage.
“Our property is the only large property left on the river. It’s pretty unique from that standpoint,” said Trammell Crow Senior Managing Director Bill Mosher.
Mosher sees the busy little Platte Street neighborhood as an extension of downtown, actually closer to Denver Union Station than parts of the central business district.
‘New Class A construction in this authentic pedestrian neighborhood is a truly viable alternative for tenants which prioritize a culture that is attractive to top-notch talent.’
“During the past 18 months, the Platte Street micromarket has gained enthusiastic acceptance as a legitimate extension of the Denver Union Station and CBD markets,” he said. “In addition to the neighborhood ambience of Platte Street, the impressive growth in the area abutting Denver Union Station, LoHi and the Highlands residential neighborhoods has turned this area into a highly desired environment. New Class A construction in this authentic pedestrian neighborhood is a truly viable alternative for tenants which prioritize a culture that is attractive to top-notch talent.” Riverview at 1700 Platte, which will break ground this month and be completed by the end of 2017, is a four- and five-story office building with 9,309-sf of street retail. It will have red brick on the west, south and north exteriors to tie into the historic fabric of Platte Street, while the east facade will feature a glass curtain wall to capture dramatic views of the downtown skyline. The building’s two wings will be connected by what is being called the “Link” building with elevator cores serving both wings.
Suitable for single- or multiple-tenant occupancy, it will include a fitness center, five riverside balconies with unobstructed downtown views and an outdoor courtyard on the second level with direct access to the South Platte River Park. It is designed to achieve LEED certification and will offer underground parking exceeding downtown ratios, on-site bicycle storage, and mountain and river views.
The chance to buy the coveted 66,320-sf site for $12 million – or $180.94 per sf – came about because Trammell Crow provided a new location for Empire Staple Co., something that company’s owner had been seeking for years.
Trammell Crow delivered a 61,870-sf build-to-suit to Empire Staple at Crossroads Commerce Park in Denver for $7.91 million the same day it bought the Platte Street site. “Every developer in town was trying to get that property,” Mosher said of the Riverview site. “We just happened to win the replacement property lottery, I guess.
“We just love the location. We really think that Platte Street is part of downtown,” he said.
Riverview at 1700 Platte will join a list of smaller office developments completed or planned in the Platte Street neighborhood. The site shares a property line with the 76,000-sf Galvanize building. Goff Capital Partners reportedly is planning around 130,000 sf of future office development at the Natural Grocers site at 15th and Platte, and Unico Properties has a site for around 80,000 sf of office, plus retail development, just south of The Lab, a new 77,500-sf office building at 2420 Platte. The Riverview site has direct access to two interchanges and is within a short walk or bike ride to light rail/commuter rail/bus transportation at Denver Union Station.
“This site is the best remaining land parcel available for development in the Central Platte Valley, LoDo and LoHi submarkets,” said Michael Duffy, senior vice president of asset management with Clarion Partners. “We are excited to partner with Trammell Crow Co. on this opportunity.” Tryba Architects is the project architect for the building, which will be built by Saunders Construction. The CBRE team of Chris Phenicie, Allison Berry and Hilary Barnett will manage leasing of the office space, and Kelly Greene of Urban Legend Retail will market and lease the retail space.
