General contractor pays $5M for site of planned RiNo office building – Denver, Colorado

Construction company Mortenson has purchased a RiNo parking lot where he plans to build an office building.

According to official records, the Minneapolis-based company, which has been in Colorado for 40 years, was named 3043 Walnut St last week. Paid $ 4.78 million on 0.43 acres of land. That’s $ 260 per square foot.

BusinessDen Reported in September The contract is in progress and the company has submitted a development proposal.

Taber Sweet

Denver-based real estate development director Taber Sweet of Mortenson said Monday that the company plans to build a 59,100-square-foot rentable five-story office building. Uses most of the space itself.

“We’re going to take between 30,000 and 34,000,” Sweet said.

Mortenson, which is based in Denver and has about 400 employees, is a major general contractor who is also developing the project itself. Its local office is now located at LoDo’s 1621 18th St., about 25,000 square feet, according to Sweet.

According to Sweet, the company wanted to own local office space by buying or building existing assets.

“For us, it really was to control our future,” he said.

According to Sweet, the company focused on LoHi such as Pratt Street and Reno. Later, 3043 Walnut St. became available and sold by CBRE brokers Tyler Carner, Jeremy Ballenger and Jessica Ostermick.

While much of RiNo’s development efforts are centered around RTD’s 38th and Blake stations, Sweet said Mortenson wants to get closer to retail hubs in the region around the Denver Central Market. Brighton Boulevard was also less attractive.

“We wanted to stay close to downtown, and we wanted to be on the Walnut / Larimar side of RiNo,” Sweet said.

“It was really easy to walk and all the equipment,” he added.

Mortenson has gone through the proposed building conception stage and may submit a formal land development plan in March, Sweet said.

“We want to start construction in the fall and late 2022,” he said.

Mortenson’s current local project includes a new outpatient health center at National Jewish Health, the redevelopment of the former Emily Griffiths Opportunity School on the edge of downtown Denver, and a planned 2.2 million square feet near Denver. Includes High Point Logistics Park, an industrial complex. International airport.

The RiNo property was sold by River Valley Investments LLC, managed by Diane Hornbecker.