Embattled landlord Harbor Associates, which bet big on Denver office right before the pandemic, is looking to sell its last remaining building in town.
California-based Harbor has hired JLL to market the vacant nine-story Vault building at 821 17th St., which sits on the corner of 17th and Champa streets.
“The Vault is offered fully unencumbered by existing leases, providing an investor with the flexibility to pursue office, adaptive reuse, or a residential or hospitality conversion,” JLL’s listing reads.
A Harbor executive didn’t respond to a request for comment.
The Vault was built in 1907. Harbor purchased the 105,000-square-foot structure in 2017 for $17.6 million.
The following year, Harbor leased 40,000 square feet in the building to WeWork, which was in aggressive expansion mode at the time. That later expanded to 73,000 square feet, according to CoStar. But WeWork shut the location down in 2021.
The Vault was the first of four buildings that Harbor bought in Denver between 2017 and 2019. At least partially due to the timing, the company had a pretty tough go locally.
Harbor bought the Symes building at 820 16th St. in 2018. Earlier this year, a lender foreclosed on it, killing Harbor’s plans to turn the office space into apartments.
Also in 2018, the company bought the Capitol Center office complex in Uptown. In 2024, ownership changed. Harbor principal Joon Choi told BusinessDen there was a note sale involved, suggesting Harbor gave up the building rather than face foreclosure.
In 2019, Harbor bought a three-building office complex in Greenwood Village. Last year, the company sold it for nearly 50% less.
According to JLL, Harbor spent $22.4 million on renovations at the Harbor building, including a new lobby and redone exterior facade.
“Eight of nine floors are fully renovated and move-in ready, including furnished spec suites on floors 6-9 — giving an investor the opportunity to drive immediate occupancy without the cost, risk, or timeline of executing that capital program,” the listing states.
JLL’s listing doesn’t include an asking price. Denver’s assessor values the property at $13.9 million.
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