Brookfield Wins Extension for $280M Loan on Denver Building

Brookfield Properties and AFL-CIO Building Investment Trust got a reprieve from their lender to extend a $280 million mortgage on the second-tallest office tower in Denver.

The New York-based investor and Washington, D.C.-based trust announced they won a loan extension for the 54-story building at 1801 California Street, the Denver Business Journal reported.

The loan, which was not in default, is now due in 2027.

The extension “reflects the strength and attractiveness of this premier office property and the prospects of the downtown Denver market,” David Sternberg, executive vice president at Brookfield, said in a statement.

The 1.3 million-square-foot brown concrete tower, built in 1983, is 76 percent occupied, according to Brookfield.

Its largest tenant is Transamerica, whose shingle hangs at the top of the tower and whose offices take up 103,000 square feet. Other tenants include Ibotta, a tech firm, and Industrious, a co-working company.

Guard and Grace, a 9,000-square-foot steakhouse run by Troy Guard, is on the ground floor.

The building ranked at No. 5 on a list of Downtown Denver office buildings with the largest vacancy by volume, according to CoStar Group.

Prudential Insurance Company of America and Equitable Financial Life Insurance loaned Brookfield and AFL-CIO Building Investment Trust the $280 million tied to the building, according to recent public records cited by the Business Journal. The date of the loan was not disclosed.

In 2018, Brookfield sold 51 percent of its ownership to the trust for $285.6 million. At the time, the building was 95 percent occupied.

Last summer, Brookfield extended loan terms at the 56-story Republic Plaza at 370 17th Street, with the building no longer in default.

But a Denver District Court appointed a receiver last summer to take control of the Wells Fargo Center, another Brookfield-owned Downtown office building, after Brookfield defaulted on a nearly $328 million loan.

Many of Downtown Denver’s office buildings are in various stages of distress, following a broad shift to remote work during the pandemic. In September, Chicago topped a list for troubled loans at 22.7 percent, followed by Denver at 19.1 percent, according to Kroll Bond Rating Agency.

— Dana Bartholomew