After years of false starts, things might finally get moving at Cherry Creek’s massive Clayton Lane development.
Invesco Real Estate and Brookfield Residential Properties Inc., which purchased the retail portion of the site in January 2016, are actively shopping the asset to other developers, according to new reporting from BusinessDen.
While it's unclear if the owners plan to sell completely or in part, or are simply looking to bring another firm into the partnership, Nick LeMasters, president and CEO of the Cherry Creek North Business Improvement District, confirmed talks are indeed happening.
“We look forward to working with whoever emerges from this dialogue,” he told BusinessDen.
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In many respects, the mixed-use project — encompassing more than 300K SF of retail space across six buildings on a bustling stretch of First Avenue — has been a dramatic success.
It was one of the first infill projects of its kind in Denver, helping to cement Cherry Creek’s reputation as one of Colorado’s premier shopping destinations. The site is currently home to in-demand retailers like Whole Foods Market and Crate & Barrel, the U.S. headquarters of global investment firm Janus Henderson and the 4-star Hotel Clio.
But Invesco and Brookfield have struggled to come up with a plan for over 150K SF of prime real estate made up of a former Sears department store and auto center that have sat vacant since 2015.
Several plans were floated to redevelop the Sears, including a proposal to demolish it completely and make room for pedestrian-friendly outdoor space. For reasons that remain unclear, those plans appear not to have progressed beyond the drawing board.
One potential hurdle was overcome in 2021, when Invesco and Brookfield purchased part of the site's parking garage from Denver-based Nichols Partnership, the site’s original developer, whose ownership came with a right-of-first-refusal clause.
LeMasters told BusinessDen that other challenges to a larger-scale re-envisioning may remain, including resistance from Whole Foods.
“From what I understand, they don’t want to move,” he said, suggesting the Amazon-owned grocer had a strong lease. “I think that has been what placed a roadblock in the past.”
But any number of outcomes could emerge from in-progress talks — and with other major initiatives underway in Cherry Creek, the neighborhood seems poised to have an interesting year ahead.
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