Another set of old manufacturing buildings is being torn down in RiNo. But unlike the boom times of the 2010s, what will happen to the site next is anybody’s guess.
“At the current point, we’ve got no real plans in place,” said Dean Koelbel, a third generation member of the family real estate firm Koelbel & Co.
The company hired Denver’s American Demolition to tear down four industrial buildings and two trailers at 3400 Brighton Blvd., next door to the Source Hotel. Work began last week.
In the spring, Koelbel submitted plans to Denver for an apartment complex on the 2.2-acre property. But the firm is also considering selling the land instead.
“Those buildings were just attracting transients and they caught on fire a couple of times, so we felt we needed to get them torn down for liability purposes,” Koelbel said, later adding that one structure was burned three separate times.
The site is home to five buildings in total. The 3435 Wynkoop St. building, tucked away in the rear of the property, will remain untouched, records show.
Koelbel’s apartment proposal in early May called for two towers with 429 combined units and 10,000 square feet of retail space. On the possible sale side, NAI Shames Makovsky brokers Dorit Fischer and Hayden Hirschfeld are marketing it.
Koelbel said his firm has received some buyer interest. But the reality remains that ground-up development in the once red-hot neighborhood has gotten expensive and complicated.
“The dynamics in Denver are tough,” Koelbel said. “Nothing is pencilling.”
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