With his Palazzo Verdi office building about halfway finished, Greenwood Village developer John Madden already is planning another speculative building at Fiddler’s Green Center near the Arapahoe Station light-rail stop.
About 105,000 square feet of the 300,000-square-foot, $100 million Palazzo Verdi building at 6401 S. Fiddler’s Green Circle is leased, and Madden says he’s in discussions with tenants that would more than fill the rest of the building.
“Because of the success we’ve had at Palazzo, he’s now got two lenders that were not as intent on doing Palazzo who are now soliciting him to do the second building,” said Bob Whittelsey, a principal at Colliers B&K who is handling leasing for the buildings.
The second building would be about 300,000 square feet with a granite exterior and glass curtain walls. Madden expects to have a rendering of the building by the end of the month.
“It will be enough to go in for permits and approvals and so forth, so that what we were changing wouldn’t be the shape or the color, but we could still tweak it,” he said.
But some question whether Madden, long considered a maverick in the development world, is wise to start planning another office project when there are so many already planned.
“It seems a little premature to be talking about a second building before you get the first one leased,” said Lane Hamilton, senior vice president of Key Bank Real Estate Capital, which provided the construction loan on Palazzo Verdi. “There’s a lot of product being talked about at the moment. I’m not certain that all of it is ready to commence construction.”
Madden said he will not start the project until Palazzo Verdi is fully leased.
Thanks to a tight office market and the opening of the T-REX light-rail line, more than 1 million square feet of speculative office space is proposed in metro Denver’s southeast market.
The Arapahoe Station is a beehive of activity.
ING Clarion and Kimpton Hotels and Restaurants are developing the $75 million, 200-room Palomar Denver Tech Center Hotel. The project, at 6350 S. Fiddler’s Green Circle, also will include 40 condominiums.
Developers Charlie Biederman, Steve Roitman and Walter Isenberg are set to break ground on their $60 million, 180-room Renaissance Hotel at 6451 S. Fiddler’s Green Circle.
Shea Properties plans to break ground next month on the first phase of Village Center Station, a nine-story, 230,000-square-foot office and retail building at 6380 S. Fiddler’s Green Circle. Because of strong leasing activity, it’s possible the second phase will be built simultaneously, said Tim Harrington of Grubb & Ellis, who is handling leasing for the project.
Staff writer Margaret Jackson can be reached at 303-954-1473 or mjackson@denverpost.com.
