The acreage is 1.5 miles east of the CBD and the largest undeveloped tract in the area. CPS Investments LLC has bought the former Mercy Hospital site across from City Park from Centura Health. The land, which includes 400,000 sf to 500,000 sf in four buildings, also is 1.5 miles from the tony Cherry Creek neighborhood and shopping district. None of the acreage will be used for single-family lots.

CPS principals are Fred Belz, Phil Smith and Steve Jacobs. Brad Buchanan, principal of Buchanan, Yonushewski Group LLC, also is an equity investor in the project and will serve as architect.

Belz came to Denver in 1980 as project manager of the Tabor Center office tower, hotel and retail complex in the CBD. He later developed the Ritz Carlton Hotel in Aspen, and about two million sf in the Washington, DC area, including three Ritz Carltons. Most recently, he has developed seven Town PlaceSuites with Denver-based Sage Hospitality. Belz says that it is too early to say how many units will be built on the Mercy Hospital property, which Centura had renamed as the Precedent Health Center.

The investment group has received a small loan from US Bank to buy the land, but hasn't chosen a construction lender yet, Belz says. He expects work to start early next year. Much of this year will be spent working with the city and neighborhood groups, he tells GlobeSt.com.

"We'd like to sell it out in a year, but more realistically, it probably would be a three- to five-year build out," says Belz. The group has hired Denver-based Genesis Group to complete a marketing study to determine the type of units and the price points, he says.Buchanan says most new residential construction in the neighborhood sells between $200 per sf and $300 per sf.

Instant Insights /

Land Buy Fuels High-Ticket Residential Project

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