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'This is Denver's Rodeo Drive'

By John Rebchook, Rocky Mountain News (Contact)

Published April 25, 2008 at 8:30 p.m.

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A rendering of NorthCreek, which is part of a four-block stretch that is home to $500 million in development.

Photo by Western Development

A rendering of NorthCreek, which is part of a four-block stretch that is home to $500 million in development.

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It's being dubbed Denver's Rodeo Drive.

The four-block stretch along East First Avenue, from Clayton Lane to Milwaukee Street, is home to more than $500 million in developments, including the most expensive retail space and condos seen in Denver.

At the west end is Clayton Lane, which developer Randy Nichols sold for $250 million, and which some components, such as the J.W. Marriott, have been resold for a handsome profit.

At the other end, is J. Madden's recently opened Pura Vida health club and spa.

Even people who miss the Tattered Cover Book Store in that space agree that the new glass curtain wall that Madden built on the exterior of the building has jazzed up the formerly nondescript building.

In between is NorthCreek, a development by Western Development Group, a company owned by Christian Anschutz, son of billionaire Phil Anschutz.

"This is Denver's Rodeo Drive," said Mary Beth Jenkins, a retail broker and consultant. "And NorthCreek is the jewel in the crown."

She's partially saying that because her outfit, the Laramie Co., is leasing and marketing the 40,000 square feet of retail space on the ground floor of NorthCreek.

NorthCreek can boast retail leases that are 300 percent higher than typical rates in the metro area.

Retail leases run from more than $50 per square foot to more than $80 per square foot, said Roy Kline, managing director of Western Development.

And Hermes, one of the tenants, will be spending "north of $1,000 per square foot," on its space, added David Steel, president of Western Development.

They recently inked a number of new leases, with tenants including Loro Piana, BCBGMaxAzria, Estee Lauder/Origins Cafe, SEE Optical and Marmi.

They also have letters of intent on most of the remaining retail space.

In addition, they don't deny the industry rumors that some of the 49 condos in the three-phase development are selling for $800 or more per square foot. That's just for the core and shell, with buyers then practically giving their architects and interior designers blank checks to finish them off.

Steel noted that residential prices start at $1 million at NorthCreek. That's even richer than at the Four Seasons Private Residences-Denver under construction in downtown. An entry- level unit there can be had for about $800,000.

Firstbank-Denver Tech Center, recently approved a $44.7 million loan to Western Development for its third phase - nine brownstones on top of 27,000 square feet of retail. Western will also use part of that money for its second phase, which includes eight courtyard flats with a total of about 25,000 square feet.

Some people have moved into the first phase, which originally was to have six floors when Peter Culshaw, president of the Tech Center, sold the property to Anschutz in 2005. The tower, with 32 units, has some with as much as 11,000 square feet. But don't bother asking Kline and Steel about the price - it's long been sold.

Western Development added a seventh floor to meet the demand for the units, even in an overall sluggish market.

Nichols, the developer who got the ball rolling on that stretch of Cherry Creek North with Clayton Lane, likes what NorthCreek and Pura Vida bring to the area.

"It's sort of the closest in, little urban node outside of downtown that really feels like a city," he said.

"Most of Denver was built around the automobile, so there aren't that many of these nice, great walkable urban spaces," Nichols added.

From a design perspective, NorthCreek, as well as Pura Vida, are huge improvements from what was there before, he said.

"What they tore down was awful, just terrible," Nichols said. "And while I loved the Tattered Cover, its building was nothing but a blank wall."

But Dr. Neiel Baronberg, who lives in the area, has few good things to say about the area from Clayton Lane to Milwaukee, other than that he likes the exterior architecture of Pura Vida. The exterior was designed by Gensler.

Baronberg doesn't care for the fact that rents are so expensive at NorthCreek that it makes it difficult for anyone but the highest-end retailers to foot the bill, or that only the richest of the rich can afford the condos.

"I know that this is not small-town America; it is Cherry Creek," Baronberg said. "I have to roll with the punches. But it doesn't make me happy. And it makes me very unhappy that the community . . . didn't have the power to help the Tattered Cover remain there."

rebchookj@RockyMountainNews.com or 303-954-5207

The lineup

Mary Beth Jenkins, principal of the Laramie Co., a retail brokerage and consulting firm, is handling NorthCreek leasing. Here's her take on some of the development's new tenants.

Loro Piana

* Snapshot: A sixth-generation Italian retailer of fine wool and cashmere clothing, Loro Piana is known for the finest cashmere and wool fabrics.

* Size: 2,045 square feet.

BCBGMaxAzria

* Snapshot: The California-based ready-to-wear clothing line of couturier Max Azria, BCBGMaxAzria is hip French fashion. BCBG means bon chic, bon genre, Parisian slang for "good style, good attitude."

* Size: 4,807 square feet.

ESTÃ?E LAUDER/ORIGINS CAFE

* Snapshot: Estee Lauder's first Origins Cafe in the world, opening this summer, is a new concept within the Origins brand, a lifestyle brand offering good-for-you products and feel-good experiences -such as Origins Cafe, featuring light food and drink in an earth-friendly environment.

* Size: 3,272 square feet.

SEE OPTICAL

* Snapshot: SEE Optical brings its own line of high-fashion eyewear to Denver for the first time.

* Size: 1,125 square feet.

MARMI

* Snapshot: Relocating from Park Meadows to be closer to its customer base, Marmi has a nationwide reputation for its large selection of all sizes of fashion-forward women's shoes.

* Size: In March, Marmi moved in to 1,795 square feet.

Comments

  • April 28, 2008

    6:43 a.m.

    Suggest removal

    italiaboy9 writes:

    Dr. Neiel Baronberg is upset that only the rich can afford the condos or shop at Cherry Creek?!?! That's rich Doctor. Oh, wait, I'm sure you can afford to shop at Cherry Creek, no?

  • April 28, 2008

    8:50 a.m.

    Suggest removal

    robinbird666 writes:

    A "brownstone" on top of retail space? Probably NOT the best use of this term as it evokes a lovely rowhome in Brooklyn, not a condo home that sits on top of something else.

    This is one time where the writer needs to put all the press releases and marketing materials aside and refer to standard definitions.

  • April 28, 2008

    2:35 p.m.

    Suggest removal

    Shaupeen writes:

    Thank god the Cherry Cricket is still there! Their burgers are the only thing I can afford in Cherry Creek North.