Developer Undertakes Uptown's Most Expensive Multifamily Project

DENVER-A Denver developer plans to start construction early next year on the 14-story Portofino Tower east of Denver.

The project by Robert Jacobsen will be the most expensive ever to be built in the Uptown neighborhood just east of the CBD. Condos in the 40-unit tower will cost from $325,000 to $2 million, translating to $325 to $500 per sf.

No other project in Uptown approaches those prices, but East West Partners is building units nearly as expensive in the Central Platte Valley, the former railroad yards north of Lower Downtown.

“We started taking reservations 10 days ago and we have reservations for 37 of the 40 units,” Mina Mercado, a member of Jacobsen’s team, ttells GlobeSt.com. “Believe it or not, we have three people interested in reserving the $2-million penthouse units. Usually, that is the last unit that is sold. Most people get stuck with it.”

She says 40% of their buyers are lawyers who work within a few blocks of Portofino, which takes its name from a town on Italy’s West Coast. Portofino, which will include a 24-hour concierge, is three blocks from the Brown Palace Hotel.