Lender submits sole foreclosure bid for Focus office complex

A local firm’s purchase of a major suburban office complex weeks before the onset of COVID- 19 has now come fully undone.

The Triad Office Complex in Greenwood Village, previously owned by Denverbased Focus Property Group, was sold at auction this month to the lender that financed its acquisition in February 2020.

Oconee Real Estate Holdings I LLC, an affiliate of New York- based Voya Financial, submitted a credit bid of $ 46.4 million, according to Arapahoe County records.

Focus, led by Bahman Shafa, paid $ 54 million in February 2020 for the complex, which consists of three buildings totaling 415,000 square feet at 5660

5680 Greenwood Plaza Blvd. It financed the acquisition with a $ 53.7 million loan from a Voya affiliate.

This April, Voya said in court documents that Focus had defaulted on the loan in multiple ways. A receiver was appointed, and Voya initiated foreclosure proceedings with the county in July.

As of July, Focus still owed $ 53.7 million on the loan, records show.

It’s common for lenders to submit a credit bid in a foreclosure auction. It effectively serves as a minimum bid. If it wins the auction, the amount bid is subtracted from what the borrower owes when the lender takes ownership.

The foreclosure auction was held

Dec. 6. Voya submitted its $ 46.4 million bid two days earlier. When no party submitted a higher bid, Voya won the auction.

Shafa didn’t respond to a request for comment Monday. William Meyer, an attorney representing the lender, also didn’t respond.

The Triad appears to be just the second major office property in the Denver area to sell at foreclosure since the pandemic. The first was the Denver Energy Center downtown, which was purchased through a lender’s credit bid in June 2022.

Foreclosure proceedings have been initiated for a handful of other office buildings, including 7100 E. Belleview in Greenwood Village and 410 17th St. downtown. A number of other buildings are distressed in other ways.

Focus has faced challenges on other properties as well. A mezzanine lender recently initiated the UCC foreclosure process for the company’s Hilton Garden Inn near Union Station.

Voya, meanwhile, also took ownership in September of the office building at 7100 E. Belleview Ave. in Greenwood Village. The owner in that case, Californiabased Westport Capital Partners, agreed to hand over the keys to the lender after defaulting, rather than going through the foreclosure process.