Shea Eyes Office-to-Home Conversion in Southeast Denver

Shea Properties aims to turn a four-story office building into affordable homes in one of Denver’s priciest neighborhoods.

The Southern California developer filed preliminary plans to convert the 124,000-square-foot office building into 143 apartments at 4340 South Monaco Street, in Southmoor Park, the Denver Business Journal reported.

Shea, based in Walnut, is in escrow to buy the Class A property near the Denver Tech Center for undisclosed terms. The seller is an affiliate of Phoenix-based Orion Office REIT.

The trapezoid-shaped building, built in 2001 west of I-25, 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 studios, one-bedroom, two-bedroom, three-bedroom and four-bedroom apartments, served by a game room, fitness center, laundry and storage.

Shea secured $6 million for the project from private activity bonds allocated by Denver’s Department of Housing Stability. The firm will seek other affordable housing bonds and tax credits for additional funding, according to Peter Culshaw, executive vice president at Shea who oversees the company’s Colorado portfolio.

If the project proves feasible, it would be Shea’s first office-to-home conversion. Culshaw said the firm has experience in both office and multifamily development, including numerous affordable housing projects, with a typical target of 60 percent of area median income.

“We feel like we’re well-positioned to marry those two expertise together,” Culshaw told the Business Journal.

Pending approvals and financial feasibility, Shea plans to have the conversion completed with tenant leases in 2026.

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

“There’s no financing available, frankly,” Culshaw said of that project. “We’re going through the motions of planning and scheming. We don’t have a start date in mind. … It’s tough to make things pencil.”

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.

Elsewhere, locally based Revesco Properties and Davis Partnership Architects have proposed converting a 16-story office building into 210 apartments at 475 17th Street, in Downtown, according to the Business Journal.

— Dana Bartholomew