Colorado Real Estate Journal -
FirstBank is providing an almost $27 million financing package for the redevelopment of the Denver Union Station. FirstBank, based in Lakewood, is the second-largest bank in Colorado based on deposits. It had about $12 billion in deposits in 2012. Still, the construction loan, which will turn into permanent financing, is a big loan for FirstBank. “In our commercial portfolio, we make a lot of loans in the $1 million to $3 million range and a handful of loans from $1 million to $20 million,” said John Ikard, CEO of FirstBank Holding Co., the bank’s parent. “Anything above $20 million is a good-sized loan for us,” he said. But FirstBank is thrilled to make the loan with a 10-year term, which allows the Union Station Alliance Group, dubbed Team USA, to convert the historic Union Station into a hotel and public gathering space. The loan provides a line of credit that can be drawn for construction cost and then it becomes the permanent loan for the project. “Union Station is synonymous with Denver, and as Colorado’s largest locally owned bank, it’s a privilege to be involved in helping finance the preservation and revival of such an iconic landmark,” Ikard said. “We believe in improving the communities in which we work and live,” he added. “We’re thrilled to work with local developers that feel the same and care deeply about maintaining historic staples while creating jobs and a stronger economy.” FirstBank has a long history with the Team USA players, which include Larimer Associates, Sage Hospitality, REGenLLC and Urban Neighborhoods, headed by historic preservationist Dana Crawford. David Tryba is the architect. McWhinney, based in Loveland, recently joined the group as the managing member of the team. Ikard said when the bank did its due diligence on the loan, it could not find one other example of a train station being turned into a hotel. In other words, at a time when banks increasingly are looking for plain-vanilla deals that fit neatly into a box, the Denver Union Station transformation is a one-of-a-kind development. “There is no box you can check off for this project,” Ikard said. “But it is a pretty cool project. The construction loan will be for the interior improvements in the station for the hotel and the retail. It also will allow them to refurbish the public space that will remain as a train station.” The 22,000 square feet of ground-floor space will be divided into about 10 independent retail and restaurant uses. The development also will include 40,000 sf of outdoor plaza space. The Denver Union Center site will serve as the nexus for the $6.5 billion FasTracks transit project. “There will be a train from Denver Union Station that will go to a new hotel at DIA, so you will have hotels at both ends,” Ikard said. “Plus, the funding of light rail to the west is in place. This is really one of the nation’s top transit projects and the hotel at the Denver Union Station is another one of the key pieces.” Ikard also knows all of the players on Team USA, which also was a reason he wanted to invest with them. “You just can’t find a better hotel operator than Walter Isenberg at Sage and Jeff Hermanson and Joe Vostrejs have done this remarkable job with Larimer Square and other retail and restaurant sites. Now, bringing in Chad McWhinney as the developer is another great addition to the team.” McWhinney said he is excited to be on the redevelopment team. “The opportunity to work with such strong partners creating what will be downtown Denver’s signature was too great an opportunity to pass up,” he said in a statement. Ikard noted that FirstBank has been a believer in the entire Lower Downtown and Platte Valley areas before they were trendy. “Our first significant loan down there was with John Hickenlooper, when he first opened Wynkoop,” Ikard said. “That must be close to 25 years ago. Time flies.” In fact, Ikard was at the legendary meeting when another banker told Hickenlooper that the pioneers are the ones who get the arrows in their backs and it is the settlers who get the land. It’s a story that Hickenlooper has retold, perhaps 1,000 times, when he was a private citizen, the mayor of Denver and now the governor of Colorado. “I think every time he tells it, it just gets better and better,” Ikard said.