September 5, 2008 3:37 PM

One Lincoln Park opening this month

On Sept. 22, the first residents will begin moving into the 32-story, $140 million One Lincoln Center, the first luxury condo tower built in Denver's Central Business District in more than 25 years.
So far, 144 of the 180 units have been sold in the building at Lincoln Street and 20th Avenue, across from the Welton light rail station.
The remaining units range in size from 882 square feet to 4,330 square feet and are priced from $375,000 to $2.574 million. Monthly Home Owner Association fees range from $288 to $1,414. The HOA fees include the cost of an outdoor swimming pool and large health club.
"We think it is the best selling condo project in Denver, in a very challenging environment," said Ed Cerkovnik, of Breckenridge Holding Co., who now heads the development group for the tower.
One of the buyers is Tony Mallardi, who bought a unit on the 11th floor with his wife, Sacha.
"I recently got married in March and I had a house up in Conifer, and it just wasn't working for us," he said on Friday. "I work at Oracle, so I'm either driving to the Denver Tech Center or DIA. Being downtown is much more convenient. And this is right across from light rail, so I'll be able get to the Tech Center without ever turning the key in my car."
He bought his unit for about $485,000 and spent $26,000 to buy a second parking space and about $80,000 on upgrades - including a custom-made glass bar and fancy tile - for a total of $591,000. It has since appraised for $610,00.
"I believe it is going to be an excellent investment," Mallardi said.
Even legal problems from the original developer, Erik Osborn, haven't scared buyers, said Cerkovnik, who replaced Osborn.
Osborn is facing charges of felony theft of $255,000, including diverting $147,000 from One Lincoln Park. Osborn has repeatedly said he did nothing wrong.
"Erik's legal problems really haven't had any impact," Cerkovnik said, who has consulted with Osborn on occasion since his legal woes began last year.
"The project itself is such a signature building," Cerkovnik said. "People are interested in the building because of the architecture, the quality, the amenities and the location."
The building was designed by the Buchanan Yonushewski Group and is being built on a half-acre site by Swinerton Inc. Construction began in the spring of 2006.
"The architect has done an amazing job of coming up with a contemporary design with an urban feel that is also functional and maximizes city and mountain views," said Christian Wells, of the Wells Partnership, which represents the owners' interests. Every unit has an outdoor terrace. The terraces range in size from 82 square feet to 441 square feet in the remaining units.
The main investor is car dealer Doug Moreland, known as "Dealing Doug." A smaller investor is radio personality Tom Manoogian, known as "Lou from Littleton," His company, MajorLeague Marketing, also is marketing the project. Both Moreland and Manoogian have bought units at One Lincoln Park.
In addition to the design and location, a big selling point was that they offered 12,000 different upgrade options to buyers, Manoogian said on Friday, while touring the building.
"About 75 percent of the buyers upgraded," Manoogian said. "We literally offered hundreds of different choice for lighting, hundreds of different choices for flooring, hundreds of choices for tile, and so on. What this has done has made every unit unique."
Manoogian, however, took the standard package for his unit, adding only a couple of upgrades, such as a fireplace.
"I don't have the (financial) wherewithal of Doug (Moreland)," Manoogian said. "He upgraded everything."

Posted by John Rebchook at 3:37 PM | Comments (1)