On a River North block where developers plan to build a digital-health complex, two landowners are hanging on to their properties, with one hoping for a big payoff.
Developers of the said they plan to move forward with
on the 3500 block of Brighton Boulevard and build a hub aimed at encouraging digital-health startups to work alongside Fortune 50 firms.
“We’ve talked to both landowners and have given each fair offers for their land,” said Carl Koelbel, vice president of acquisitions and development at Koelbel and Co., in an e-mail.
He said landowner Larry Burgess owns more than 93 percent of the block. The Burgesses, Koelbel and entrepreneur Mike Biselli are equity partners on the Catalyst project.
“It’d be great if they’d like to sell but not necessary,” he said.
Christie Williams, who has owned
since 2004, according to city records, said a member of the Burgess family approached her this summer about selling her property.
“He had (offered) $150,000 two months ago,” she said. “But I’m not stupid. I’m sitting on gold.”
Landowner Larry Burgess said that he offered her $250,000, which was the same amount offered to other property owners.
“That works out to be $80 per square foot, an offer we find to be very fair given the current market. In the end there is only so much anybody could pay for a property of that size,” Burgess said in an e-mail.
“I have spent the last 40 years working on and acquiring property along the Brighton Boulevard corridor with a vision for the type of resurgence the area is currently seeing. The Catalyst HTI project will be a great addition to the exciting projects already in design and construction in this transitioning neighborhood.”
The RiNo real estate market is sizzling. According to real estate broker CBRE, land prices in RiNo jumped 50 percent to $59.27 per square foot last year compared with 2013. A recent .
At that rate, Williams’ 3,125-square-foot lot would sell for $303,125. She has .
Williams said her grandfather built the house in the late 1800s — . It has a toilet but no bathtub or shower.
“He would go to my grandmother’s house down the street to shower,” said Williams, adding she inherited the 1,096-square-foot home from her mother.
Eddie and Mary Ortiz are listed as the , a 3,125-square-foot lot. Both have died, but their son Buddy Ortiz now lives in the home. He said the Burgesses offered him $250,000 and years ago, when his mother was alive, Burgess offered to trade him a house in a different neighborhood.
Ortiz said he prefers not to sell or move because he’s on a fixed income and can’t afford a higher property tax bill.
“What’s fair to me is to be left alone as we were” before development on the block began, Ortiz said. “We were perfectly happy.”
Catalyst’s proposed first phase will include a 180,000-square-foot office building with about 10,000 square feet dedicated to retail and events. Construction is expected to began next year, with completion by late 2017.
Tamara Chuang: 303-954-1209, tchuang@denverpost.com or twitter.com/Gadgetress
