Asher Luzzatto spent $28 million at The Streets at SouthGlenn Tuesday.
The Taos real estate developer, who owns four downtown Denver office towers he plans on converting into apartments, purchased about 100,000 square feet of retail space at the Centennial mall, he said.
“I think downtown is very clearly the top priority, but this represents an interesting opportunity for us to diversify with a retail investment,” Luzzatto said.
The real estate spans three blocks fronting York Street. It includes a Whole Foods, Sephora, Old Navy and a dozen other retail storefronts.
The seller in the deal, Greenwood Village-based Alberta Development Partners, declined to comment. Alberta redeveloped the mall in the late 2000s, adding office and apartment buildings along a promenade where a sprawling retail building once stood.
Twenty years later, though, there’s still work to be done. The north end of the shopping center, still owned by Alberta, has been empty since Macy’s left in 2022. The site has been designated for redevelopment by the city, and last summer Alberta requested to bump the allowable number of residential units there from 1,125 to 1,675.
Then there’s the southern end, vacant since Sears left in 2018. The retailer sold its real estate for $15 million to Denver-based Northwood Investors in 2017. Centennial’s website on the mall’s redevelopment said the company met with city officials about building housing there but ultimately decided not to move forward with the plans. “The site is still being marketed as a strong location for future housing,” the city’s website says.
The long-term potential for redevelopment was a reason Luzzatto wanted to get involved.
“South Denver, this area could use a good center of gravity because it is pretty suburban and spread out. … I think people are missing an experience that is just walkable, livable,” Luzzatto said.
The mall at midday Wednesday was buzzing with people. Though there are a handful of vacant retail spaces scattered throughout, rows of parked cars lined the central thoroughfare. A leasing agent for the 214-unit apartment complex on-site built by Alberta and later sold told BusinessDen that most of its units were occupied.
Luzzatto said his portion of the property is 100% leased, making it a smart retail investment. When vacancies arise, he wants to bring in “experiential” tenants — the type of spot that people drive half an hour to visit.
“Even if nothing else ever happened, we still think that this is a really awesome location and shopping mall and I think having a Whole Foods-anchored retail center is still incredibly valuable.”
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