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Unico Properties has increased its stake in LoDo.
The Seattle-based company bought the five-story office building at 1755 Blake St. and the office component of the hardware block at 1515 Wazee St. from Maryland-based ASB Real Estate Investments on Wednesday.
The company paid a combined $ 84.45 million – $ 61.2 million for the Blake property and $ 24.25 million for hardware block, according to public records.
Austin Kane, vice president and regional director of Unico in Denver, said the deal totaled 170,868 square feet, about two-thirds of which is located at 1755 Blake Street. That makes the deal worth about $ 494 per square foot.
The move represents a commitment to downtown Denver by Unico, which sold office space along Platte Street and in Boulder to Boston-based Beacon Capital Partners in June. The company also owns other local properties, including office buildings at 1430 Wynkoop St. and 1875 Lawrence St., LoDo.
“Workers will return to the offices at some point, and Denver continues to attract well-trained workers,” Kane said. “Companies looking for heavily blackened workers are following suit.”
Eric Heinz, BusinessDen
A lease agreement sign is in a vacant unit at 1755 Blake Street.
Also, “the opportunity to make a value acquisition in LoDo was too difficult to miss,” he added.
Kane said the full scope of the improvements is not yet clear, but the company is working with Oz Architecture, the Kestrel Design Group and Dig Studio on a plan. A likely focal point is the periphery of the 1755 Blake building.
“We’re going to try to change the street scene so that this corner feels a little more inviting,” he said.
Kane said the office space in the Hardware Block – which also includes a residential component not included in the deal – is fully let. But 1755 Blake is free.
“We have a couple of large blocks there,” he said.
ASB has owned both lots since 2013. It paid $ 16.3 million for the hardware block in January and $ 53.5 million for 1755 Blake in December 2013, records show.
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