Formativ Bags $66M Construction Loan for Denver Project
The tower will rise in the RiNo neighborhood.
Real estate developer Formativ has obtained a $65.5 million construction loan for 3850 Blake, a 310-unit multifamily development in Denver. Construction began in June, with completion slated for the third quarter of 2027. A JLL Capital Markets Debt Advisory team, led by Director Rob Bova and Senior Analyst Ellie Savage represented the borrower in the deal.
At opening, 3850 Blake will offer a mix of studios, one- and two-bedroom units averaging 563 square feet. The property will rise 16 stories at the corner of Blake St. and 38th St. in the RiNo district of the city, part of an Opportunity Zone.
Nearly 40 percent of residences are designated for renters earning 70 percent of the area median income or more, and more than 70 percent are attainable for those earning below 100 percent AMI, according to the developer. The project counts as a transit-oriented development, since it is near the 38th & Blake RTD light rail station, which provides access to Union Station and Denver International Airport, among other places.
Common-area amenities include an elevated pool deck with unobstructed mountain views, a clubhouse, coworking zones, an indoor/outdoor fitness center and a “programmed lobby designed to engage with the surrounding neighborhood,” the developer notes, further pointing out that the neighborhood itself is an amenity. There are over 150 restaurants, bars, galleries, and entertainment venues within a 10-block radius of the 3850 Blake.
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Denver-based Formativ currently has eight active developments in metro Denver and the Front Range.
Hot development in Denver to cool
Developers have been in high gear in the Mile High City recently. In 2024, the Denver multifamily market expanded by a net of nearly 20,000 new units, or a whopping 4.8 percent increase in inventory. The 2024 total also far outstripped Denver’s average annual construction over the past five years, which is 11,400 units, according to Apartment Insights.
Development is expected to slow, however. One reason, notes Apartment Insights, is that a surge of new construction came to get ahead of new affordable housing requirements in the city, and will drop off correspondingly in the near future as the surge works its way through the pipeline.
Demand for apartments remains supported by an influx of population. Denver is projected to add an additional 80,000 residents by 2030, according to the Colorado Demography Office. Statewide, Colorado is expected to add a net of 700,000 residents by the end of the decade.
According to JLL, RiNo has experienced exponential growth in recent years, with 26,000 new residents relocating to the area in the2019 to 2020 period alone.
