Buyer plans “new life” for downtown Greeley building

GREELEY – A Fort Collins investor and retired real-estate agent has purchased a “tired” 51-year-old building in downtown Greeley and plans to redevelop it for office and retail tenants.

Jim Mokler, 63, a real-estate broker for 35 years and one of the original members of Fort Collins-based Realtec Commercial Real Estate Services, closed Friday on the Jerome Building at 800 Eighth Ave.

Financial terms of the transaction between Jim and Stephanie Mokler, acting as 800 Holdings LLC, and the previous owner, Denver-based 6475 Wadsworth LLC, were not disclosed, although a Downtown Development Authority spokeswoman said it originally was listed for more than $2 million and a Realtec listing still online Wednesday morning quoted an asking price of $1.075 million.

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Mokler said he bought the Jerome Building through what’s known as a “1031 exchange.” Under Section 1031 of the Internal Revenue Code, such an exchange allows an investor to sell a property and reinvest the proceeds in a new property, thus deferring all capital-gains taxes. In February, Mokler sold a building at 120 W. Olive St. in downtown Fort Collins – home to Uncles Pizzeria, Vintages Hand-Crafted Wines and 10 other tenants – to Brinkman Partners for $1.6 million.

Mokler redeveloped that building with a new heating and air conditioning system, windows, roof and façade.

The three-story Jerome Building, built in 1964, originally housed a Hested’s Department Store, which included a cafeteria. Hested’s closed its Colorado stores in 1976, and the building was renovated in the early 1980s to become 100 percent office space – but has had few updates since then, Mokler said.

“It was kind of tired and let go,” Mokler said. “I’m bringing some money to the table. I’m a value-add guy. I know how to fix stuff up. I want to revive it, give it some new life, modernize it. I think people are going to like what they see.”

Currently 81.3 percent leased, the building’s tenants include a Colorado Department of Corrections parole office plus offices for Lutheran Family Services and Senior Resource Service. Mokler said he is working with the current tenants but also has been talking with retailers including coffee-house and fast-casual restaurant chains, and plans to close a deal next week for his first new lease – 3,000 square feet for an unspecified law firm.

The brick building has two elevators and a new computerized HVAC system. “It’s got a full, 20,000-square-foot basement with skylights on two sides too,” Mokler said.

He said he’s excited about the “cool vibe going on downtown” and the building’s location, since there’s “very little office space around.” Its neighbors include the new $10 million “Ice Haus” building, the Greeley Museum and the Downtown Center Gallery. A walking mall and the Weld County Courthouse are nearby.

“Right now, this is my new baby, my new focus,” Mokler said. “This will be fun.”