Colorado Real Estate Journal: Featuring Colfax and Halsted

Text: Denver firms partner on ground-up mixed-use development

by Avalon Jacka

DENVER – A pair of local firms have made their debut with a new ground-up mixed-use development in the Berkeley neighborhood.

Osage Properties is the general partner developing the 27-unit community with 3,000 square feet of ground-floor retail, situated on a 12,000-sf lot at 4114 N. Tennyson St. Colfax and Halsted Investments is serving as a limited partner equity investor. The 33,000-sf

development marks Osage Properties’ first sponsored development and Colfax and Halsted’s first passive capital investment.

The three-story development will include a mix of studios, and one- and two-bedroom apart- ments averaging 665 sf, as well as a rooftop deck with views of the mountains and Cesar Chavez Park across the street. Some units will include a private balcony, and a few of the third-floor units will have mezzanine space above.

Osage Properties principal and co-founder Brian Funk highlighted the neighborhood itself – with numerous restaurants, bars and retail stores within walking distance – as an amenity due to the boutique nature of the development.

“We've always focused on the type of tenant that wants to be able to walk out their door and have a handful of restaurants and bars they can choose from,” said Funk. “That's really helped us select our potential builds as we went through our due diligence.”

Osage Properties closed on the property in 2021 and broke ground on the development in November following the entitlement and permitting process. The development was designed by architect NEOstudio. Alpine Investments is serving as development partner, and Schneider Building Co. is serving as general contractor. The development is expected to be delivered by first quarter 2025.

Osage Properties partnered with Colfax and Halsted principal Paul Vranas to raise capital from investors for the project. Vranas put together a fund of 14 investors from his personal network who pooled their money into one large investment into both stages of development. Elevations Credit Union also provided construction financing.

Colfax and Halsted was attracted to this particular investment due to its existing relationship with Osage principals, as well as the combination of a high amount of walkable amenities in the neighborhood, with a contained location that prohibits a lot of additional development.

“We are bullish on the long-term demand prospects for properties like this due to the continued attractiveness of folks moving to Denver and the forecasted growth in population,” said Vranas. “Unlike some other folks that are trying to forecast minute by minute, month by month, quarter by quarter, we're bullish on the long-term need for additional housing here.”

Colfax and Halsted has two decades of experience, having invested in multiple properties in Chicago prior to entering the Denver market. The firm seeks commercial properties that are in high demand, operated by vetted developers and located in top Denver neighborhoods for its passive investment clients.

Vranas said the firm is actively engaged with several developers in the Denver market that are focused on similar high-end neighborhood corridors, with plans to place two to three additional investments this year.

Funk said Osage Properties plans to hold the Tennyson development for the long term. The firm is currently working through the entitlement process of its next

project, which is located at the corner of Pearl Street and Bayaud Avenue in the Washington Park neighborhood.

“We try to put together projects that are in great neighborhoods that we think are irreplaceable, that have high barriers to entry,” Funk said. “We want to be in locations that have walkable amenities and neighborhoods that people want to find them- selves in, so that's our running thesis here. We love Denver as a whole. We love everything that Denver has to offer in the city and outside the city.”