The units will be priced from the $170,000 to $315,000, making it one of the most affordable loft projects in downtown, Woolley says. Units, aimed at first-time buyers, are located at Walnut and Broadway intersection in the historic Ball Park neighborhood around Coors Field.

Woolley paid $3.2 million for the buildings and an adjoining half block that will include about 130 units, including an affordable income component. Woolley bought the land from Denver-based Northstar Commercial Properties, which bought all of Benjamin Moore's excess real estate across the country, after Warren Buffet's Berkshire Hathaway company bought the paint company.

"Charlie basically met our asking price," Watson tells GlobeSt.com. "I think it's a testament to the property and the buildings that it could sell for the asking price in this market. You don't find very many parcels of this size in that neighborhood."

The first phase will include seven row homes, with either two or three stories, the first built in downtown since the turn of the century, Woolley says."We think these 'industrial chic' row houses will broaden the base of urban dwellers at our project," Woolley says.