Auto services are returning to a site at the edge of downtown Denver after a deal that illustrates how development has cooled.
The 2000 N. Broadway property was home to a Firestone shop for more than a half-century. But the tire company closed the shop in recent years after selling the property in 2021 to Tennessee-based GBT Realty Corp.
GBT, a development firm, paid $5.4 million for the property and submitted plans to Denver proposing a 25-story residential building.
But the project never broke ground. And last week, GBT sold the property to Greenwood Village-based investment firm Leeds West Group, founded by Judd Shader.
Leeds West operates stores under the Midas, Big O Tires, and SpeeDee Oil brands. The Broadway site will become a Big O shop.
Records show the buyer paid $3.5 million — a full third less than the 2021 deal.
Broker Paul Cattin of Platinum CRE, who represented the seller, said 2000 N. Broadway “was a highly active listing for us.” While he talked with some developers about the site, he expected the buyer would be someone wanting to use the existing structure.
“We positioned this as an owner-user building and basically had it under contract in the first week of taking it to market,” he said.
A GBT executive didn’t respond to a request for comment. Development in Denver and around the country has slowed in recent years due to higher interest rates and construction costs, as well as other factors.
The 2000 block of Broadway is something of a tire shop gauntlet. Goodyear operates across the street from the site that Big O will soon occupy.
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