It could have been a wedding, bar mitzvah, birthday, anniversary or another momentous occasion, but if you have been in Denver for any length of time, the road likely took you to the hotel at Interstate 25 and East Hampden Avenue.
Now, that hotel, built as a Marriott in 1974 that then shifted to the Four Points by Sheraton Denver Southeast flag five years ago, is headed to its destiny with the wrecking ball.
When the lease expired in 2008, Four Points owner Starwood Hotels & Resorts opted not to re-up. The property reverted to the hands of the landlord — the Gaiser family, a storied clan of developers with real estate holdings throughout the metro area.
Robert F. Gaiser was the first person to build two homes in Bow Mar, a small desirable community built on a lake. The Gaiser patriarch lived in one of the houses and sold the other to Lloyd King, founder of the King Soopers dynasty.
“When my grandfather bought the (hotel) land, it was the Englewood Airport sitting between Yale and Hampden, running parallel to Monaco,” said Rick White, a relative by marriage to the Gaisers. “The airport ended on a sleepy little two-lane dirt road called Hampden Avenue. Then my uncle Robert H. Gaiser started to develop commercial properties at Monaco and Yale around the mid-’70s.”
The Gaisers entered into a ground lease on the site with Marriott in 1974.
“It was at the leading edge of this new thing called the Denver Technological Center,” White said. “It was the first Marriott west of the Mississippi River.”
Now that Starwood has pulled out of the project, the Gaiser family needs to figure out the future of that prime piece of property.
“We started looking at the low ceilings, the environmental liabilities such as asbestos that is in there,” White said. “It’s one of the few buildings in that era that had structural masonry walls, which didn’t lend itself to a lot of remodeling. After all things considered, we opted to tear the entire structure down.”
White said the family will explore the property’s next life — whether as residential, assisted living or mixed-use with retail.
“We’re ready to turn the next chapter,” he said. “But not without nostalgia.”
Chip on the old block.
The Curtis Hotel, at 14th and Curtis streets, will celebrate its new affiliation with Doubletree Hotels (new name: The Curtis, a Doubletree Hotel) by handing out the official Doubletree milk and cookies to pedestrians or vehicle passengers stopping by from 7 to 9 a.m. and 3 to 5 p.m. today.
The freebies will be handed out by Curtis employees as well as by Chip, the Doubletree mascot. Who’s Chip? Hotel owner Sage Hospitality Resources spokeswoman Julie Dunn is not spilling. Oh, for crumb’s sake.
But she didn’t say it wouldn’t be Sage owner Walter Isenberg. So if Chip sports a moustache, you can bet your chocolate chips it’s Isenberg.
The seen.
Rockies pitcher Jeff Francis and guest enjoying New Year’s Eve festivities at Opus Restaurant in Littleton.
Eavesdropping
Two women at P.F. Chang’s LoDo talking about Denver parking issues:
“In my neighborhood, they’re so grateful if you don’t park on their lawn.”
Penny Parker’s column appears Tuesday, Thursday, Friday and Sunday. Listen to her on the Caplis and Silverman radio show between 4 and 5 p.m. Fridays on KHOW-630 AM. Call her at 303-954-5224 or e-mail pparker@denverpost.com.
