The Denver Downtown Development Authority hopes a visit this spring from members of a real estate industry association will help determine the future of the Denver Pavilions mall.
An advisory services panel from the Urban Land Institute will visit Denver from April 13-17 and produce a report with recommendations on what the DDDA should do with the mall and adjacent parking lots.
The DDDA, a city affiliate tasked with revitalizing downtown, bought the real estate late last year, paying $37 million for the mall at 500 16th St. and $23 million for two parking lots behind it along 15th Street.
“I really want to create some local buzz about the future of Pavilions, some national buzz about the future of Pavilions,” said Bill Mosher, Denver’s chief projects officer.
The DDDA is paying ULI $100,000. Mosher said he doesn’t know who the panelists will be yet, but expects there to be five or six. They’ll come from outside the region. Their report will be ready about a month after the visit.
“Based on the recommendations of the ULI panel, we would decide how we want to proceed,” he said.
A national ULI panel appears to most recently have been in Denver in 2022, when it produced a report on potential changes to Speer Boulevard and Cherry Creek.
Ahead of the Denver Pavilions visit, the DDDA has issued two requests for proposals, seeking a quick turnaround on materials so that the panelists can assess them as part of the visit.
One seeks a repositioning vision from “best-in-class retail, dining, entertainment, and experiential leasing specialists/consultants.” The second seeks proposals from architecture, urban design and master planning firms that “reimagine Denver Pavilions and the adjacent surface parking lots as the catalytic centerpiece of a revitalized Upper Downtown.”
Submissions for both RFPs are due March 13.
The Pavilions has been owned by the DDDA for just over two months. It purchased the mall Dec. 20 from Denver-based Gart Properties, which had defaulted on the property’s loan, rather than see it be surrendered to a lender.
The mall is 350,000 square feet and approximately 60% leased. It brings in $5.3 million in rent annually, according to Mosher. The mall’s underground parking, which has 800 spaces, and the adjacent parking lots — which the DDDA bought from New York-based Brookfield Properties — bring in $3.2 million annually.
Gart Properties continues to manage the mall. The firm is being paid $379,000, Mosher said. That includes on-site maintenance and operations staff as well as accounting services.
The mall does not currently have a dedicated leasing team, although Gart can show spaces if someone reaches out.
“My hope is that we don’t sign any major leases,” Mosher said of the DDDA’s ownership. “My hope is that we transfer this asset to the private sector as soon as possible and let them execute their vision.
“The goal is to keep as much flexibility as possible,” he added.
The property is a fixer-upper. Two escalators along the 16th Street Mall, which take patrons to the second floor, haven’t worked since before the sale.
When it purchased the mall, the DDDA set aside $8 million for repairs and possible leasing commissions. A budget for Pavilions and the parking lots, which the organization’s board approved in January, includes $1.75 million for repairs to the garage both this year and next.
An additional $1 million annually is set aside for the escalators and elevators.
Asked when the latter might be repaired, Mosher said he would be “delighted” if all of the escalators and elevators, which have also previously had issues, simultaneously work at any point.
“We know it’s going to continue to be an ongoing operational issue,” he said.
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