DENVER — The building that once housed the Art Institute of Colorado will be renovated into studio apartments.
The 10-story building, located at 1200 Lincoln Street, was built in 1962 and was originally an insurance company before the Art Institute occupied the property for about 20 years. It was purchased this past fall by Nichols Partnership after the for-profit school closed.
Nichols Partnership had a couple of options on the table soon after purchasing the property.
“We looked at it as an office opportunity, and we looked at it as residential, and in the end studio units were what we landed on for the use,” Nichols Partnership developer Melissa Rummel said.
They plan to put 194 studio units, ranging from 240 to 375-square-feet in the 10-story building, with a bit of homage to the previous tenant.
“We’re planning on calling it Art Studios. We’re decorating and theming the building out of an artistic kind of manner,” developer Robbie Nichols said.
They also hope to put some sort of art retail space on the bottom floor. The outside should look very similar with a few minor modifications.
“By and large, the building will not look dramatically different other than what is on the ground floor, and then at the penthouse level on level 10, there will be some additional architecture up there,” Rummel said.
Developers say rent is going to be competitive.
“We hope to undercut the surrounding competition by several hundred dollars, but everything is going and changing day-to-day, so it’s hard to pinpoint it,” Rummel said.
Construction is slated to start in the spring and be open to rent in early 2022.
