John Rebchook is a former Rocky Mountain News reporter with more than 30 years of experience in writing and communications... TAXI, a mixed-use development in the emerging River North, or RINO area of downtown Denver, is moving forward on its next phase – the FREIGHT building.
It is one of the few multi-tenant office buildings moving forward in Denver in this economy.
“It’s been a long-time in coming,” Susan Barnes-Gelt, the former Denver City Councilwoman who does some marketing for developer Mickey Zeppelin, told a gathering of architects, tenants, brokers, lenders and others attending a ceremony for the FREIGHT building at the Fuel restaurant on the TAXI site along the South Platte River at 3455 Ringsby Court, just north of Coors Field. TAXI also includes 43 living units, and more than 60 tenants, many in creative fields, ranging from architecture to art to Web design. Many of the tenants collaborate with each other. She noted that Zeppelin has been a pioneer in many Denver neighborhoods, and never more so than this site, when he recognized the potential of the former Yellow Taxi headquarters and dispatch area a decade ago.
Mid-century building being reborn
Barnes-Gelt described the FREIGHT building as a “mid-century brick, shipping terminal.” The 30,000-square-foot building already is more than 60 percent pre-leased. It will be transformed into a modern, flexible workspace with the addition of glass garage doors, an environmentally sensitive HVAC systems, high-ceiling-big-volume space, a sustainable landscape and a Main Street corridor, a defining characteristic of all of TAXI’s buildings. The adaptive reuse of the building and adjacent site is the most cost-effective way to provide quality, flexible, technologically relevant space to businesses, at a cost not achievable in new construction. It is being designed by architect Stephen Dynia of Jackson Hole, Wyoming.
“It has had some starts and stops,” Zeppelin told the crowd, attending the gathering Thursday evening. “At different times we thought we had the the loans in place and they didn’t happen, we thought we had the tenants, and it didn’t happen. But now is is really happening and we are going forward.”
Vectra Bank steps up the plate
Securing financing from Vectra Bank is allowing the $6 million development to move forward.
“Vectra Bank is pleased to be providing the financing for the next phase of the TAXI project, said Ted Trask, vice president with Vectra Bank. “There were several factors about the project that provided the bank with sufficient comfort to move forward, not the least of which was the successful track record of Zeppelin on the prior phase. Additionally, the equity structure represented a diverse set of funding sources, including the borrower, private and public sector funds. Finally, the borrower was successful in achieving significant pre-leasing for the project, which is a key component for any transaction in this market. In moving forward with the FREIGHT transaction, Vectra Bank is able to support both its ongoing relationships with the project and borrower, but is also demonstrating its support for the small businesses that will benefit from the project.”
The Denver Office of Economic Development is providing $450,000 toward the project.
“We were glad to do it,” said Rick Snyder, a Senior Economic Development Specialist. “We see ourselves as filling the gap to clients who cannot get traditional financing without our help. This is really a great project.”
TAXI driving “new economy” users
Trask and the TAXI development team believe that FREIGHT has a number of things setting it apart from much of its competition, justifying a financial commitment during these trying times.
They include:
The project’s focus on small and medium-sized new economy tenants, producing 11 leases between 500 square feet to 7,000 square feet comprising 60-percent of the project. The building, as well as all of TAXI, is being leased by John Gustafson, a senior associate at Grubb & Elllis.
Vectra’s recognition of Zeppelin’s history of successfully identifying and developing in emerging neighborhoods – LODO, Golden Triangle and now River North (RINO).
The creativity of all the parties to develop a public-private financing structure with sources that in addition to the Denver’s Office of Economic Development include the American Recovery Act and White Construction (the project’s general contractor) as equity partner.
“Over the last 10 years, TAXI has established itself as uniquely suited to the needs of new economy entrepreneurs—smaller creative and technology firms,” said Kyle Zeppelin, Mickey’s son and a partner on the project “Vectra recognized that these groups are both the strength of the site and a key driver of the new economic reality. While other office buildings scramble to retrofit, TAXI already has features in place that add value to creative and technology firms: award winning design, sustainable features and common areas that promote collaboration.”
One of FREIGHT’s prized occupants will be the 7,000-square-foot Open Air Academy – Early Childhood Education center. This represents the next evolution of the amenities to the site – a child-care center that will serve both TAXI and surrouding downtown neighborhoods.
For more information: www.taxibyzeppelin.com , kzeppelin@zeppelinplaces.com, or call Kyle Zeppelin at 303-573-0781, Ext. 12.
Contact John Rebchook at JRCHOOK@gmail.com or 303-945-6865
