An 11-story office building in the Denver Tech Center has been sold for $23 million, the latest in a .
One thing sets this sale apart: The new owner, , plans to crowdfund a portion of the investment.
The Chicago-based real estate investment firm teamed up with Hamilton-Titan to acquire Denver Corporate Center I, 4700 S. Syracuse St., part of a three-building complex originally built for IBM.
Accredited investors who meet federal income or net worth requirements will be eligible to invest in the office building, in amounts beginning at $10,000.
“For the average investor to get access to institutional-quality real estate deals, it’s very difficult,” Origin senior associate Jared Friedman said in an interview. “We’re trying to bridge that gap.”
Denver Corporate Center I is the first metro-Denver purchase for Origin, which has more than $500 million of real estate under management.
Hamilton-Titan, a joint venture between Chicago-based Hamilton Partners and Titan Investments of Denver, has had an ownership interest in the building since 2006. Origin bought out a previous investor.
Improvements to the building are expected to begin immediately, including a new fitness center, locker and shower facilities, Wi-Fi cafe and bike storage. Built in 1981, the building is currently 83 percent leased, with IBM remaining as a tenant.
Origin closed on the property last week. Rather than serve as a middle man for crowdfunders, the firm will own the building for the same period as investors do, Friedman said.
“(Denver) is a market we’ve been tracking for awhile now,” he said. “The growth in Denver has been phenomenal from a population-growth perspective and a job-growth perspective.”
has taken off nationwide since a 2012 federal law loosened restrictions on fundraising by startups — including online or in newspapers.
also permit less-affluent, nonaccredited investors to get in on the crowdfunding game, although at the discretion of those offering the opportunity.
Origin crowdfunders receive equity in the property they invest in, not unlike if they were to buy stock in a company, Friedman said. Investments are managed through an online portal.
“Real estate crowdfunding is growing fast — it’s expected to raise more than $3 billion in 2016,” Origin co-founder Michael Episcope said in a statement.
Emilie Rusch: 303-954-2457, erusch@denverpost. com or @emilierusch