Two separate parking lots in the River North Art District (RiNo) formerly owned by Pepsico were sold for $36.19 million to a San Francisco-based developer, Carmel Partners. These two parking lots consist of 3.77 acres but are separated by 39th street and they are located across the street from Pepsi’s bottling plant. The combined deal works out to be $220 per square foot.
Jeff Haag, the vice president of investments at Carmel Partners, stated that the firm is working on a site development plan which will be more set-in-stone by the end of the year. Carmel Partners as well as other firms who decide to invest in the area have incentive zoning that allows for up to 16 stories. Nonetheless, city records show that a proposal was made for two seven-story projects that will include more than 600 apartments and about 40,000 square feet of retail space in total. Additionally, Haag stated that one of the main reasons for selecting this site was the proximity to transit, a common trend seen with many companies in the Denver metro area. The property is only a short five-minute walk to RTD’s 38th and Blake Street Station, and a number of developments are popping up in this area as a result of this station.
This is not the first purchase by Carmel Partners, who acquired a $30 million site in February 2018 also located in the RiNo district. The firm filed site development plans for an eight-story apartment building that will house 403 units as well as 11,500 square feet of commercial and retail space on the ground floor. The plans also state that they plan on incorporating three levels of parking in the building, with the remaining five levels allocated to residential living space.