A highly visible office building at the crossroads of the western edge of Cherry Creek, 101 University, is getting a major makeover.
The building at 1st Avenue and University, the with the most traffic of any intersection in Cherry Creek, is being transformed into a “welcoming gateway,” the building’s owner said on Thursday.
“We’re looking forward to taking the first step towards enhancing this valuable property and providing another real estate gem to Cherry Creek North,” said David Steel of Western Development Group, the development team that continues to make important strides to improve and upgrade real estate in this prime Denver neighborhood.
The corner of 1st Avenue, which turns into Speer Boulevard, and University Boulevard, draws an average of about 100,000 vehicles a day, which means that 101 University provides a high-visibility address for tenants in an area with high barriers to entry, which limits the supply of new buildings.
The office vacancy rate in the area is only 10.84 percent, the lowest of any major market in the Denver area.
“This is a prime office building in a tremendous location, and our renovation work will make it an even more desirable place for a company’s business address,” said Steel. “It just needed to be given the proper time and attention to maximize its potential.”
Exterior and interior renovations are underway, including the removal of the building’s dated blue and cream colored tile over the east entrance vestibule. In order to avoid any impediments to raffic, a temporary entrance has been made available on the west side. Complete renovation of the building is scheduled to begin in March, and the building will be ready to commence tenant improvement work in early summer.
In addition to removing the exterior tile, the renovation work is planned to include:
- Expanding the glass storefront on the south and east sides of the building, making it a more visible and sunlit space.
- Upgrading the front entrance, lobby, corridors and restrooms.
- Enhancing the building’s landscape.
- Replacing the building’s existing mechanical, HVAC, plumbing and electrical systems with Energy Star compliant specifications.
- Adding covered walkways connecting the building entry to the parking lot.
- Adding secondary entrance.
- Improving entryway paving.
- Improving exterior and interior lighting.
- Adding access control with programmable card readers.
- Providing upgraded elevators and building life safety systems.
Upon completion, Western Development Group is looking forward to welcoming returning tenants as well as new tenants. Available office space ranges from approximately 1,000 square feet to 50,000 square feet at the property. For leasing opportunities, Please contact Peter Staab or Nathan Johnson of Newmark Knight Frank Frederick Ross at (303) 892-1111 or visit this link.
Merchant Enterprises is handling the demolition work and WDG Construction will be responsible for the new construction.
Contact John Rebchook at JRCHOOK@gmail.com
I’d like to see a rendering before passing judgement. However, that building will likely need a lot more help than that. The suggested upgrades are pretty minor and do nothing to replace the regrettable east facade (unless I misunderstand the scope).
“the building’s dated blue and cream colored tile over the east entrance vestibule”
which looked like the crap the day it went up.
I used to drive by this building a few times a week for 20+ years and my immediate and continuing reaction to that “facelift” was “What were they thinking [not]“?