Ritz Condo To Start At $800K

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24 residences will feature amenities of luxury hotel

By John Rebchook, Rocky Mountain News
May 17, 2006

The 24 luxury condos at the Ritz-Carlton Denver hotel will start at $800,000 each and will top out at more than $4 million for a penthouse, developer Charlie Biederman said Tuesday.

The units, called the Residences at the Ritz-Carlton Denver, are part of the former Embassy Suites hotel at 1881 Curtis St. that Biederman and partners are converting into the first Ritz in Denver. Units will range from 1,143 square feet to 5,561 square feet.

The condos are scheduled to open in summer 2007, about a month after the 202 rooms in the new Ritz make their debut.

The price equates to about $700 or more per square foot, among the highest prices for a condo development in Denver.

Katie Everett, who is listing the condos with fellow RE/MAX Classic agent Rike Palese, said they will go fast.

"I have eight really qualified people right now who are interested in buying them," Everett said. "We only have 24 units to sell, and there is a lot of pent-up demand. In other parts of the country, Ritz condos are selling for $1,800 per square foot."

Her current waiting list includes people downsizing from big homes in Cherry Hills Village, CEOs of companies and others from out of state who frequently do business in Denver.

Homeowner association fees, Biederman said, will average from $10 to $14 per square foot annually.

"So if you have a 2,000-square- foot unit, it will cost you roughly $20,000 a year in association fees," said Biederman, who is developing the project with partners Steve Roitman and Jim Cobb.

Jan Nelson of Kentwood City Properties said the condos at the Ritz will have an advantage in that they will open a year or two before similar condos in projects such as the planned Four Seasons.

"I think $700 per square foot is very doable in downtown, especially when attached to a name like Ritz, with all of its amenities," Nelson said.

She noted that some condos in Riverfront Park are getting around $600 per square foot and she recently sold a 4,500-square- foot condo in One Polo Creek in Cherry Creek for $880 per square foot.

On Tuesday, Biederman's team will begin accepting nonbinding reservations for the units. A reservation requires a refundable $25,000 deposit.

The reservations then will be converted into contracts in about 60 days, Biederman said.

Biederman said the residences, which will be on floors 15 through 19, will have their own elevator, lobby, lounge and concierge.

"They'll also have access to all the services of the Ritz, whether it is maid service, room service, valet parking or running errands," he said.

Also, buyers will get a membership to the 50,000-square-foot Athletic Club at Denver Place, as well as a 30 percent discount and other perks at every Ritz-Carlton hotel.

The average size of the rooms in the hotel will be 510 square feet, making them the largest Ritz-Carlton rooms in the nation, Biederman said.

Forty-seven of the rooms will be suites.

Vivian Deuschl, spokeswoman for the chain, said there may be some Ritz-Carlton rooms that are larger in hotels in Asia, but none elsewhere.

Byron Koste, head of the University of Colorado Real Estate Center, said the condo sales are needed to make the renovation, which will cost about $75 million, pencil out.

The project can be declared a success when Biederman has nonrefundable contracts, Koste said.

"Right now, he is testing the market, which is a very wise thing to do," Koste said.

"I wish him all of the luck. The Ritz name is a good name wherever it is.

"But the Ritz is only as good as the property. The $64,000 question is whether this location at this price is going to be Ritz-Carlton worthy.

"We'll have to wait and see."

Copyright 2006, Rocky Mountain News. All Rights Reserved.