Southern Land Company (SLC) and financial partner GTIS Partners (GTIS) have sold Bespoke Uptown (Bespoke), a transformative mixed-use project at 17th and Pearl Street in Denver’s Uptown neighborhood. The 10-story community features 316 luxury apartment homes and more than 12,000 square feet of ground-level commercial space.
Longtime collaborators, SLC and GTIS together first identified the 17th and Pearl Street site in 2014. The Uptown neighborhood’s walkability, proximity to downtown, rich architectural and community diversity and convenient access to parks, iconic restaurants, and entertainment appealed to SLC and GTIS. At the time, the site included a parking lot, a small apartment building, and two historic early-20th-century commercial structures, including community favorite the Tavern Uptown restaurant building.
“When we first identified the site, the Uptown neighborhood had been transitioning in such a positive manner and we immediately recognized the character and access to so many destinations discerning residents desired. To put it simply, the site was so full of potential to complement such a unique community,” said SLC Founder and CEO Tim Downey. “We were energized by the potential and wanted to create something that would invigorate the neighborhood and ultimately become a catalyst for future growth.”
Tom Shapiro, President and Chief Investment Officer at GTIS, added, “Denver is a high conviction market for GTIS. With the positive demographic trends contributing to such a dynamic environment, we look forward to additional investments in the region.”
SLC and GTIS closed on the acquisition of the site in 2015 and entrusted the project to SLC’s in-house developers and designers.
The Uptown community reached out to SLC and discussed their desire to see how these two historic structures could remain, and SLC worked together with these citizens and the City of Denver to come up with a win-win solution to incorporate the structures into the development. Additionally, GTIS, as the financial partner, recognized this as a real opportunity for the community and supported this change in the project, even though it resulted in a longer design and approval process. The end result allowed the development to blend an upscale, modern apartment home community with historic preservation that delivered a truly unique mixed-use project in January of 2021.
Chris Chang, Director at GTIS, said, “GTIS strongly believes in the importance of working collaboratively with residents and municipalities to ensure our investments have a positive impact on surrounding communities. That close collaboration was a key part of the development process at Bespoke Uptown, and we are thrilled with the final result. Together with our partner SLC, we were able to preserve and incorporate the two historical structures in our designs while delivering a high-quality multifamily product offering at a terrific location in one of Denver’s most desirable submarkets.”
Bespoke’s residential offerings included studio, junior one-bedroom, one-bedroom, and two-bedroom apartment homes equipped with granite countertops, stainless steel appliances, wood plank and tile flooring, in-home washers and dryers, and private balconies. Residents could also enjoy a heated resort-style pool, multiple outdoor courtyards, an open-air dog park, a 24-hour-fitness center, and a residents’ lounge, among other amenities.
In Colorado, SLC previously developed, owned, and sold the multifamily project Centric LoHi in Denver, which set the price-per-unit record for metro Denver. SLC also developed, owned, and sold the mixed-use project Rêve Boulder. SLC is currently building a multifamily project at the Karl’s Farm development in Northglenn and a 400-acre master-planned community in Erie, named Westerly.
In addition to Bespoke Uptown and the recently sold Rêve Boulder mixed-use project, GTIS is also partnering with SLC on the development of Auric Symphony Park, a Class-A multifamily development project in Downtown Las Vegas, Nevada. Auric Symphony Park is one of 12 Qualified Opportunity Zone investments made to date by GTIS, including seven investments made to date by GTIS’ Qualified Opportunity Zone Fund I.
