M, Carlton Shell Out $93M for Denver Office Retail Project

M Development and Carlton Associates have plunked down $92.5 million to buy into a yearslong redevelopment of a former medical school into a retail office village in Denver.

The Aspen- and New York-based investors hopped aboard when locally based developer Continuum Partners recapitalized more than half of the 9+CO project at 9th Avenue and Colorado Boulevard, four miles southeast of Downtown, the Denver Business Journal reported.

As part of the recap, 9+CO’s majority equity partner, Los Angeles-based CIM Group, was replaced by M and Carlton. The buy-out deal was facilitated by mortgage broker Iron Hound Management.

It was financed with a five-year, $65 million loan by Connecticut-based Steeprock Capital, according to Continuum.

M, led by Chicago businessman Mark Hunt, the Cohen family’s Carlton Associates and Continuum will complete what’s now a 11.6-acre project.

The 9+CO project emerged from the redevelopment of the University of Colorado School of Medicine, built a century ago on the 26-acre site. It was demolished in 2015, after the school moved to its Anschutz Medical Campus in Aurora.

Plans for its $400 million redevelopment included 1,100 apartments, condominiums and townhomes, 150,000 square feet of offices, up to 50 shops and restaurants and public parks and plazas, according to Continuum.

Continuum and its new partners now own 260,000 square feet of completed offices, shops and restaurants at 9+CO, home to Postino, AMC and Culinary Dropout, according to Continuum and public records. The recent sale also includes the vacant property north of the movie theater.

Continuum said it will continue building out the area with new shops, as well as manage the development with M. Cost and timeline to complete the 9+CO project were not disclosed.

“We are excited to continue to be a part of 9+CO’s success and work with a new partner to bring the project to completion,” Mark Falcone, CEO of Continuum, told the Business Journal in an email.

Continuum Partners, founded by Falcone in 1997 on the premise that smart growth can lead to profit, has completed $3 billion in projects according to its website.

The firm is developing affordable housing in Five Points and workforce housing in Downtown Denver, in partnership with DaVita, a national kidney care service provider based in the city, according to the Business Journal.

— Dana Bartholomew