VC firm takes 20,000 sf at Free Market complex underway in Arts District

Venture capital firm Greycroft Partners plans to set up shop at a retail-and-office campus that’s under construction in the Arts District.

The firm signed a 10-year lease for about 20,000 square feet at a Free Market outpost at 821 Traction Street, according to Urbanize.

Free Market is a Denver-based company that bills itself as “an ever-evolving collective that develops and markets curated products, services, and experiences…”

Based on its website and articles written about its Denver space, Free Market essentially operates shared retail marketplaces.

The Arts District project would is the third for the company— it’s first is part of Denver’s Dairy Block complex and its second opened in May at Playa Vista’s Runway development.

Its tenants in Denver include eyewear maker Warby Parker, skincare brand Aesop and Alchemy Works, a retail and gallery space founded by Free Market founders Raan Parton and Lindsay Parton.

Playa Vista tenants include Alchemy Works, Jeni’s Ice Cream and County Line Florals.

The Arts District complex is set for completion in the first quarter of next year. Greycroft is set to move in as soon as the space is ready.

Renderings of the complex show a modernized Spanish Mission-style complex with a central courtyard and a large trellis-covered rooftop deck.

Greycroft is based in New York but has had a Los Angeles office at 1375 E. 6th Street, also in the Arts District, since 2015.

The firm has made a handful of investments in real estate startups over the last couple of years. In early 2020, Greycroft led a $20 million Series A fundraising round for San Francisco-based furnished apartment operator Landing.

The firm joined another $45 million round for Landing a year later. Other investors included Foundry Group and Maveron.

This fall, Greycroft led a smaller $5.6 million fundraising round for management company Humming Homes.

[Urbanize] — Dennis Lynch