Developer behind eye-catching Rino project breaks ground

A development firm constructing a striking building in Rino has broken ground on another project along West Colfax.

Cleveland- based The Max Collaborative announced last month that it and Denver-based Nava Real Estate Development had begun work on Wilder, a 196- unit apartment building at 1521 Hooker St.

Max Collaborative is one of three firms developing One River North, a 16- story project at 3930 Blake St. that will feature a striking gash on the structure’s northwest-facing facade filled with greenery. That project broke ground in summer 2021.

The Wilder project on West Colfax will be tamer. The eightstory building designed by Davis Partnership Architects is “inspired by art deco architecture” and intended to be “an ode to the West Colfax neighborhood’s 1950s heyday,” according to a news release from the developers.

This is the first joint project between Max Collaborative and Nava, which developed the Lakehouse Residences condo building overlooking Sloan’s Lake and is also planning a residential project in Cherry Creek.

Max Collaborative paid $6.22 million in August 2019 for the development site, along with additional land nearby on Conejos Place, according to public records.

In October, it sold the development site — which is in a federally designated “opportunity zone” — for $ 3.5 million to an entity affiliated with New York- based Safehold, a publicly traded company that specializes in ground leases. Safe- hold subsequently announced that it had closed a $31 million ground lease for the site with Max Collaborative.

Construction on Wilder began in November and is expected to be completed in late 2024, according to the firms. Saunders Construction is the generation contractor.

Max Collaborative is developing One River North with Uplands Real Estate Partners and Wynne Yasmer Real Estate. The three firms are also building a 370-unit apartment project across from the Anschutz Medical Campus in Aurora.

Uplands and Wynne Yasmer have also submitted development plans for a site across an alley from the One River North site.

Max Collaborative and Uplands were formed by members of the founding families of Forest City Realty Trust, which was acquired by Brookfield Asset Management in 2018.

Forest City led the redevelopment of the former Stapleton International Airport site in Denver.