Denver Office Tower Loses 82% of Its Value Since 2019
Wells Fargo Center at 1700 Lincoln St. in Denver was appraised at $85 million in May, down from a $475 million valuation in 2019 when owner BCSP Denver Property borrowed $327.7 million from Morgan Stanley. The 1.2 million-square-foot tower, known locally as the Cash Register Building, has operated under court-appointed receivership since 2023. Brookfield bought into the property in late 2019 and operated it until the loan matured in late 2022 without refinancing or payoff. The property lost 26.1% of its value in the past year alone.
The $277.1 million loan is held in a commercial mortgage-backed security and has been transferred to special servicing. From July 2025 to June 2026, the building generated $15.2 million in net operating income against $15.5 million in debt service requirements. The interest-only loan carries a rate tied to one-month SOFR plus 158 basis points, currently just under 5.5%. Special servicers and the receiver evaluated a sale but determined Denver’s central business district market conditions would not maximize recovery for bondholders.
SM Energy expanded its lease by two floors in August, adding 50,455 square feet and bringing the building to 67% occupancy across 124,333 square feet. Receiver Judy Duran of CBRE and the special servicer have launched a competitive leasing plan to retain existing tenants and attract new ones. Denver’s downtown office vacancy rate reached 40.1% in the third quarter of 2026 according to CBRE, and experts estimate building values in the central business district have declined 80% to 90% since before the pandemic.
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