"It's not a very large building," says Brad Buchanan of theDenver-based Buchanan Yonushewski Group LLC, "but it lays outreally well for an office building." Plans call for a 3,600-sfaddition to the 8,400-sf structure that was built in the early1880s.

Last year at auction, Larimer Square paid $871,500 for theproperty situated at 1317 14th St. in the Lower Downtown historicdistrict. "We looked at using it as retail or a restaurant, butbecause it has a basement and three upper levels, it wasn't reallyobviously conducive for those uses," says Joseph D. Vostrejs,general manager of Larimer Square. "And then we looked at the hugedemand for office space." He says the undertaking is expected toexceed a couple of million dollars.

The addition will house an elevator that will also service theadjacent Miller office building and a second staircase as requiredby building codes, says Vostrejs. The project, which will becompleted in nine months, will command rental rates of more than$30 per sf, on par with the new office towers being constructed inthe CBD. The owners are eyeing a single tenant, such as a law firmor high-tech company, says Vostrejs.