High-end hotel possibility for 30th and Pearl

BOULDER – A high-end hotel and luxury senior living facility are two possible options being explored as part of a 400,000 to 500,000 square-foot mixed-use redevelopment project near the intersection of 30th and Pearl streets, according to one of the principles involved in purchasing the property.

Dan Otis of Denver-based Brickstone Partners said Wednesday that he and his partners hope to break ground in 12 to 16 months on a development that would also include a mix of office and retail. He said developers have also been in talks with a couple of single users about possible build-to-suit options for the site.

Pearl Place Associates LLC, formed by principles Brickstone and Denver-based Forum Real Estate group, closed this week on three separate purchases: 2920 Pearl St., for $1.1 million; 2930 Pearl St., for $3.2 million; and 2095 and 2111 30th St., for $6.9 million. Peregrine Ridge LLC, led by Denver developer Richard Schierburg, is also an investor in the project.

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Otis said the group has one final property, at 2121 30th St. under contract. Once that purchase closes, the contiguous properties that wrap around the Chase Bank at the southwest corner of 30th and Pearl will total 4.6 acres.

“We’ll flesh out exactly what the compilation of uses will be in the next couple of months,´ said Otis, who said he expects the entitlement process with the city to take about a year. “Right now we’re in the market talking to a few tenants. There’s been quite a bit of interest. The site lends itself well to a lot of different uses and users.”

Due to all of the different owners and businesses involved, Otis said the purchase deal was a complex one that took about a year and a half in assembling all of the properties, noting that broker Terry Kruegel, who represented Pearl Place Associates, was instrumental in pulling the pieces together.

The properties involved include a mix of businesses like HB Woodsongs, which owned the 2920 Pearl property, and D&K Printing at 2930 Pearl, as well as a couple of retail centers on the 30th Street sites – all of which will be redeveloped. Otis said the properties include about 20 to 25 businesses in all, most of which are on short-term leases and will “be able to stay there and operate for a little while.”

Otis said zoning for the site allows for a maximum of 650,000 square feet of building space but that developers are aiming for less than that so that they can also include a fair amount of greenspace and other community amenities.

Otis said he and his partners liked the central location for its proximity to the proposed transit village to the east, as well as Whole Foods across the street to the north and the Twenty Ninth Street retail district to the south.

“The location kind of speaks for itself,” Otis said. “It’s a legacy asset and you just can’t replace it. … This is kind of the last large contiguous development parcel in the core of Boulder.”

Developers are working on the project with Denver-based Tryba Architects, whose projects range from the Colorado History Museum to Clayton Lane at Cherry Creek North.

Brickstone and Forum, owned by University of Colorado grad Darren Fisk, have been active in Boulder.

Brickstone has had a hand in several student housing projects in Boulder in recent years, including among others the Gas Lamp Apartments at 910 28th St., The Lux at 855 Broadway and a new $40 million project in the works at 2885 E. Aurora Ave.

Fisk’s Forum was involved with the Two Nine North apartments near Twenty Ninth Street and a pair of projects on University Hill, including the redevelopment of the Jones General Store site.