With an emphasis on sustainability and tenant demand for top-quality spaces, one of Denver's newest office developments is resetting the bar as the region tries to claw its way back to pre-pandemic levels of demand.
Despite having to leap over such pandemic-era hurdles, a Hines-led venture was able to land a major prelease agreement with Xcel Energy and finish construction on its T3 RiNo development, a duo of feats that helped earn the project a 2025 CoStar Impact Award for commercial development of the year for Denver, as judged by real estate professionals familiar with the market.
Spearheaded through a joint venture between Canada-based investment firm Ivanhoé Cambridge, Houston-based Hines and Chicago-based McCaffery Interests, the 235,000-square-foot project at 3500 Blake St. was completed last year, with all of its office space already spoken for as the utility plans to relocate its regional headquarters to the brand-new property.
Along with amenities such as a luxury fitness center, indoor-outdoor workspaces, ground-floor retailers, among other perks, the mass-timber office building was developed with a focus on providing the resources occupants needed in order to be as environmentally friendly as possible. Its location is within walking distance to the city's commuter rail system, counts more than 100 bicycle parking spaces, and floor-to-ceiling windows help ditch the conventional office lighting in favor of a better, natural alternative.
T3 RiNo's "innovative mass-timber design sets a new standard for sustainable office spaces," CoStar Impact Award judge Alexander Shapiro, an associate broker with Transwestern Real Estate Services, said of the development. It's "cutting carbon emissions by 38% while attracting Xcel Energy as its anchor tenant and bringing 1,200 employees to the RiNo market.”
Once it relocates later this year, Xcel will be the largest office tenant in Denver's RiNo area, a neighborhood that has become increasingly popular among both commercial and residential tenants for its popular restaurant scene, concert venues, art galleries, food halls and breweries.
About the project: The $186 million T3 RiNo development includes an industrial, heavy-timber-structured design that is 100% renewable, recyclable and non-toxic. The project was originally slated to break ground in early 2020, right when the pandemic blew through the global real estate market. Even through construction was pushed back by about 18 months, the development team was still able to wade through years of uncertainty in order to get the project across the finish line.
What the judges said: “The mass timber design was [the] most impactful with its sustainability and energy efficiency," CoStar Impact Award judge Randy Danielson, the senior director of real estate development for The Opus Group, said of the development, adding that the "location for this building in terms of transportation options, with the emphasis of alternative transportation options, helps with the environment.”
They made it happen: The development team included Ivanhoé Cambridge and Hines, both co-owners of the property, as well as McCaffery Interests, which is spearheading leasing efforts. Pickard Chilton served as the design architect and DLR Group was the architect of record.
CoStar Market Manager Kathryn Binns contributed to this report.