Real estate 101 is taking place a few blocks from Denver Public Schools headquarters.
The school district purchased two parking lots at 1935 and 1963 Sherman St. last week for $2.5 million, according to public records.
The seller was Mobile Infrastructure Corp., a Cincinnati-based parking lot investor that bought the smaller lot in 2015 and the larger one in 2016 for a combined $3 million.
“A hundred dollars per square foot in downtown Denver felt like a very good value,” said Andrew Huber, DPS’ executive director of enrollment and campus planning.
Together, the two lots can accommodate nearly 100 cars. The smaller lot, at the corner of 19th and Sherman, had previously been leased by DPS. The other lot will replace its parking lot lease at 2000 Welton St., where an apartment building is planned.
The lots are a block from DPS’ headquarters at 1860 Lincoln St., which also houses three school programs including Emily Griffith Technical College. Over 900 staffers for DPS work in the building, sharing 600 parking spots. Many split their time between Uptown and one of the system’s nearly 200 schools.
“The opportunity presented itself through our brokers. … We didn’t go knocking on doors to say, ‘What parking can we buy around here?’” Huber said. “But it felt like an opportunity that came at the right time.”
NAI Shames Makovsky brokers Dorit Fischer and Hayden Hirschfeld represented the school district in the deal.
“We’re the second-largest landowner in Denver, so there’s always something going on,” Huber said.
A certificate of participation financed the deal, Huber said. Investors purchase the certificate, giving DPS the money to make the acquisition, and expect to be repaid from parking lot revenue. The school district charges its employees a below-market rate to park by the day or month.
“Using resources that are available to kids was not on the table,” said Huber, who was once a high school math teacher.
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