Rezoning poised to allow for expansion of planned Cherry Creek office project (Local Tips & Reviews)

A new rendering of the office building planned for the corner of 2nd Avenue and Adams Street in Cherry Creek. (Courtesy Oz Architecture)

The developers planning an office building in Cherry Creek have found a way to increase its size nearly 50 percent.

Denver-based Magnetic Capital and Burgage Limited are under contract to buy 159 Adams St., a small parcel just south of the corner the firms bought for $10 million last fall.

The purchase would add 6,250 square feet to the project’s development site, bringing it from 0.29 to 0.43 acres.

“This will allow us to grow our building from 60,000 to 90,000 square feet,” Magnetic Managing Partner Dan Huml told BusinessDen.

Magnetic managing Partners Dan Huml, left, and Chris Carroll

The deal is contingent on the 159 Adams parcel being rezoned to allow five stories. Magnetic submitted an application requesting the change last month.

The property is home to a two-story house used by a spa. Owners Tamas and Edit Viski-Hanka paid $300,000 for the property in 1997, records show. Huml said they plan to relocate the business when the deal closes.

A previous owner had considered first office space, then condos, for the corner of 2nd and Adams before opting to pursue neither. Instead, Magnetic bought it in October. 

The project will still be the five stories that Huml originally planned, but the additional parcel will allow it to be broader and “a much more efficient building,” he said.

For one thing, the expected footprint will make the parking setup easier, allowing Magnetic to avoid putting some of the spaces under the sidewalk.

“By eliminating that, it’s a much cleaner process with city approvals,” Huml said.

Huml said the change also allowed Denver’s Oz Architecture to create a more visually interesting design.

“It’s different than the typical glass box that we’ve seen developed in Cherry Creek,” he said.

Fencing surrounding the corner of 2nd and Adams touts a condo project previously planned for the site. (BusinessDen file photo)

Rezoning applications are heard first by Denver’s Planning Board, and ultimately must be approved by the City Council. No hearing dates had been scheduled as of press time.

Magnetic’s rezoning application is actually one of two that was submitted in February for the 100 block of Adams Street. At the southern end of the lot, a Cleveland-based development firm wants a shopping center site rezoned to allow eight stories so it can build a multifamily project.

Huml and partner Chris Carroll recently expanded the team at Magnetic, bringing on Robert Stofer as principal and managing director and Justin Zuckerman as vice president of construction. Stofer previously worked in New York for Rialto Capital and PCCP, according to Magnetic’s website, while Zuckerman previously worked in Denver for Cypress Equity Investments.

Magnetic and partner Narrate Cos.  expected to complete their Sonder hotel at 3354 Larimer St. in RiNo in early May, Huml said. The company also owns the RiNo real estate where Scottish brewery chain BrewDog hopes to open by the end of the year.