Bell Park tower project isn’t moving forward

A Texas firm’s plans to build a tower along Speer Boulevard near Larimer Square have come to a halt.

Buzz Geller of Paradise Land Co., who owns the parking lot at the corner of Speer and Market, told Businessden on Monday that his ground lease agreement with San Antonio-based developer Kairoi Residential has been terminated.

Kairoi had proposed a 37-story residential tower at the site.

Geller owns the entire block, which is divided in two by the Cherry Creek bike and pedestrian path. The site is sometimes referred to as Bell Park because it’s home to the bell from Denver’s first City Hall, which occupied the site until it was demolished in 1936.

Kairoi executives didn’t respond to requests for comment on Monday. Geller said the firm determined it couldn’t make a profit on the project because of higher interest rates and construction costs.

Geller, who has owned a number of downtown parking lots, said he’s been trying to sell the ones by Larimer Square for nearly 20 years. Other developers, including Houston-based Hines, also took a crack at the site.

“I’ve been working on this since 2005, and it comes as a big disappointment,” he said. “But you can’t get blood from a turnip.”

Kairoi has been in the picture since at least 2018, when Geller said the building was under contract, but declined to name the party. Businessden broke the news of Kairoi’s identity the following January, when the firm submitted plans to the city.

Kairoi was initially under contract to buy the property. That contract, however, expired in June 2020.

By late 2021, Kairoi was again submitting plans to the city for the site, calling for 139 units. Geller said the deal was back on, this time under a ground lease agreement.

Behind the scenes, there was progress. The tower plans were approved by the Lower Downtown Design Review Commission last year, Geller said. About $1.5 million worth of Xcel work needed was done at the site, with the utility firm and the developer sharing the cost.

Then, Geller said, he got a call from Kairoi asking for more time. The project wasn’t penciling out to the tune of 40% higher than desired costs, he claims the firm said, and executives wanted more time to talk to different contractors and consider options.

“I gave them that time,” Geller said.

Geller said the agreement expired about 60 days ago. There were discussions after that about a possible retroactive extension, he said, but the firm was looking for more of an unpaid “grace period.”

“I’m always willing to give people more time, but they have to pay for it,” Geller said.

“They left all their earnest money, and quite a bit of improvement to the property.”

The property is now back on the market. Geller was previously looking for $65 million for a sale — or $1,000 a square foot for the entire block (Kairoi’s contract was just for the Speer half). He now refers to the current asking price as “negotiable.” He’s also again open to striking a ground lease.

“I’m going to go a little different direction — let somebody come to me with the price,” Geller said. “I want to see what they want to build. That’s very important to me.”

Geller has always wanted a building that he believes matches the visibility of the site.

“It should be an iconic structure,” he said.

Geller has had more luck selling other downtown lots. He got $699 a square foot when he sold 650 17th St. in 2019. And he got $495 a foot in 2021 for the site where the 30-story 1900 Lawrence office tower is currently under construction.

He still owns lots at Colfax and Welton, and Tremont and 13th.

Kairoi, meanwhile, is currently building an apartment building at 1150 E. Colfax Ave., the former site of a Ramada hotel.