Mosher, president of Mosher Sullivan Development Partners, is the CEO of the nonprofit group that owns the 1,100-room Hyatt hotel that just opened across from the Colorado Convention Center and is developing the $88-million Denver Newspaper Agency building at Colfax and Broadway, which will house the Rocky Mountain News, the Denver Post and the agency. Before he became a developer, Mosher was the president of the Downtown Denver Partnership.
Mosher is still in the early stages of deciding what to do with Smiley's, which takes its name from its founder, Art Cormier. Cormier sold the laundry a few years ago and Mosher's group last summer with no fanfare bought the site from the new owner.
Although it's early in the game, Mosher estimates that a redevelopment would likely be in the $8-million to $20-million range. It likely would involve 15,000 sf on ground-floor retail, with housing above. The existing building could be redeveloped, or if needed, the building could be razed to make way for a new development.
Mosher tells GlobeSt.com that the City of Denver asked him to explore using the federal New Market Tax Credits to help finance the project. If the tax credits are used, the housing would need to be rental. If not, the housing could be for-sale condominiums. He tells GlobeSt.com it is too early to discuss the prices, but says they probably wouldn't be extremely expensive units. Mosher is in the process of having it rezoned as MS-3, or Main Street-3 zoning, which allows more density on the site. Depending on what route it chooses, he estimates it could end up with 50 to 100 housing units. A parking garage on the backend of the property also is possible in the area where parking is tight.
On Wednesdays night, he will be making a public presentation to the Capitol Hill United Neighborhood group (CHUN). CHUN is reserving its opinion on the potential development until its members hear what Mosher has to say. "We heard about the proposal for the rezoning," Drew O'Connor, executive director of CHUN tells GlobeSt.com. "But we need to get more details about it. After the meeting we can get a better sense of what they are doing and whether we will be willing to assist them."
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