Shea OK’d for $29M Public Bond for Denver Conversion Project

Shea Properties has received $29 million in public funding to turn a four-story office building into affordable homes in one of Denver’s priciest neighborhoods.

The Denver City Council approved issuing bonds to help convert the 124,000-square-foot office building into 143 apartments at 4340 South Monaco Street, in Southmoor Park, the Denver Business Journal reported.

In August, the city approved a zone change allowing the developer to convert the vacant building.

Shea, based in Aliso Viejo, Calif., bought the 13-acre property near the Denver Tech Center this spring for an undisclosed price from Phoenix-based Orion Office REIT.

The trapezoid-shaped building, built in 2001 west of the 25 Freeway, has been vacant for at least five years. It was once occupied by Atlanta-based Invesco, an investment firm.

Plans call for converting the white building with teal floor-to-ceiling windows into 143 affordable apartments set aside for households earning between 30 and 70 percent of the area median income.

The converted offices would contain 23 studios, 89 one-bedroom, three three-bedroom and three four-bedroom apartments, served by a game room, fitness center, laundry and storage. The building parking lot and landscaping would be left alone.

Shea secured $6 million for the project from private activity bonds allocated by Denver’s Department of Housing Stability.

Southmoor Park, 10 miles southeast of Downtown, is Denver’s priciest neighborhood, with a typical home price last year of $2.1 million, according to 5280.com, a Denver magazine.

The office-to-home conversion would be Shea’s first. The developer expects to break ground in February, with the conversion completed with tenant leases in 2026.

Shea, which has an office in Denver, is also working to redevelop the former Marina Square shopping center at East Belleview Avenue and Ulster Street.

Shea Properties, whose roots stretch back to 1881 in Portland, Oregon, owns 11,000 apartment units and 6 million square feet of office, industrial and retail space in California, Colorado, and Washington, according to its website.

— Dana Bartholomew