A 17-story office tower in Denver has changed hands for $3.63 million, underscoring the profitability challenges facing a number of office buildings in the city. The high-rise, formerly known as Columbine Place, will be rebranded as Adio Palace following its acquisition by an entity bearing the same name.
The property totals 149,222 square feet and has a significant amount of vacant space, with 69% of the building currently unoccupied. The new owner plans to keep the asset in office use and focus on attracting additional tenants to the tower rather than pursuing a change in use.
The building was previously tied to a much larger financing package. It served as collateral for a $15.5 million loan in 2015, reflecting a markedly higher level of leverage than its recent sale price. According to reporting cited from the Denver Business Journal, building values in downtown Denver have declined substantially since that time, adding pressure to office owners in the area.
The tower has recently been through a prolonged distress process. In 2023, a Denver District Court judge placed the property into receivership. At that point, the ownership and land structure involved multiple parties, with the University of Hawaii Foundation holding a ground lease on the underlying land and an investor group called Columbine West 2 owning the building itself.
Court filings from 2023 indicated that Columbine West 2 owed $17.7 million on the building, far in excess of the tower’s latest sale price. A foreclosure proceeding was initiated after the ownership group stopped making principal and interest payments in October 2022. The combination of high leverage, missed payments, and weak operating performance contributed to the receivership and eventual sale.
The buyer, Adio Palace, has not publicly detailed any redevelopment plans in the available information, but its stated intent is to continue operating the asset as an office property. With current vacancy approaching seven-tenths of the building, the business plan centers on stabilizing occupancy and improving cash flow in an office market where many towers are experiencing ongoing income and valuation stress.
