Downtown Senior Apartment Project Lands New Equity Partner

By Gabriel Circiog, Associate Editor

The economic downturn has taken its toll on many developments around the country, but a long-delayed downtown Denver senior-living project is set for a comeback as The Denver Post reports the developer has landed a new equity partner.

Balfour Cosmopolitan LLC bought the 95,607-square-foot property back in 2006 for $7.7 million and initially planned a $110 million project—the Cosmopolitan Club. The plan called for 214 independent-living apartments and 50 assisted-living apartments.

Initial plans, which included a seven-story tower just 20 feet from the Promenade and Riverfront Tower condominium buildings, were rejected by Denver’s planning board. Local residents compared the design of the project to a fortress and contested that it would not integrate into the neighborhood scenery.

Located at Little Raven and 15th streets in the Riverfront Park neighborhood of Denver, the project site has now been sold in a joint venture deal to AEW Senior Housing Investors LP for $9.4 million, according to city real estate records cited by the source.

Michael Schonbrun, founder and chief executive of Balfour, did not discuss specifics regarding the project but announced that plans should be ready by the end of the summer.

Other multifamily developments in the neighborhood include:

• 1490 Delgany Street, a 10-story, 285-unit luxury apartment building that will feature 4,000 square feet of retail space on the ground floor; developed by Opus Development in partnership with Amstar plan

• Manhattan II, a 134-unit luxury apartment building developed by GID Urban Development Group.