Denver Mayor Michael Hancock at State of the Cities 2020
Kathleen Lavine, Denver Business Journal
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Former Denver Mayor Michael Hancock is jumping into the real estate game.
Last week, Hancock completed what he hopes will be the first transaction building a portfolio of real estate holdings. He purchased the historic office building at 2413 N. Washington St. in Denver’s Five Points neighborhood, known as the Triangle Building.
Hancock bought the 7,600-square-foot building for just over $1.4 million, records show.
He served three terms as Denver’s mayor, from 2011 to 2023. Since then, Hancock has worked as a consultant, mostly in the realm of politics. Because the bulk of his career has been in the public sector, Hancock said it’s time for him to catch up financially, which he plans to do by investing in real estate.
“Real estate is still one of the more sure investments you can make,” Hancock said. “We’re going to continue to look and speculate and create opportunities with partners, and hopefully continue to expand. Once you get the bug and try to figure out how to do these things, the key would be to keep growing and hopefully amassing a nice portfolio.”
Starting with the 2413 N. Washington building made sense because Hancock already had a relationship with the previous owner.
He bought the property from the estate of Carl Bourgeois, a legendary Colorado developer known for his work to preserve and revitalize the historically Black area of Five Points. Bourgeois’ company, Civil Technology, also worked on the Denver International Airport, the Stapleton/Central Park Redevelopment Project, the Webb Municipal Office Building and the Denver Art Museum expansion, according to the company’s website.
Even before he was mayor, Hancock considered Bourgeois a friend, he said, calling Bourgeois someone he admired and who you couldn’t spend time in Five Points without knowing. Hancock grew up in the nearby Whittier neighborhood and said he spent a lot of his time there in his early twenties.
Michelle Glass, principal with Glass Properties Group at KW Commercial, represented Bourgeois’ daughters. She said Hancock was the ideal buyer because he won’t simply leave the building to flounder.
“What I was really looking for was to find an investor who was going to do something with the building,” Glass said. “In commercial real estate, especially with office, it’s definitely a buyer’s market, and we’re seeing a lot of vacant office space, as well as some vacant retail space in Five Points. So it was really exciting to be able to sell it to a buyer that is actually going to purchase that and do something with the building — reinvest in the building, renovate it.”
Glass, an experienced agent in the area, said it’s a great time to buy in Five Points because cap rates are high since building prices have been dampened since the Covid-19 pandemic.
“This will be a good thing for the community, because now new entrepreneurs and new investors can come in and do something and reuse some of these buildings,” she said. “To see the mayor come in and take a value-add building and reuse it for something that’s going to be profitable and great for the community is an exciting thing.”
Before Bourgeois bought the building in 1989, it had been used as an icehouse. He renovated it into office space.
Hancock now plans to renovate again, preserving historic elements while refreshing the space. He plans to lease several office suites and add co-working space, a cafe and a garden area so people can work outside.
“We plan to program it as well to have maybe some discussions, speak easy-type activity with guest speakers and things of that nature,” Hancock said.
He is determining what the renovation will cost, Hancock said. He and his fiancée are the majority owners of the property, and they have three silent partners, he said.
Part of the deal included seller financing, Glass said, which helped make the sale more favorable for both parties.
For Hancock, Five Points is a target area as he continues his real estate career.
“It’s an important area,” he said. “It has been gentrified. We want to create some ownership down there again and continue to create diversity and opportunities for everyone down there. I want to be a part of that. …Five Points is burning to continue to get better.”