Denver proposes 12-year lease for Alterra headquarters at city-owned Uptown building

Denver is proposing a 12-year lease for Alterra Mountain Company to occupy about 64,654 square feet in the city-owned building at 101 W. Colfax Ave., along with a separate financing arrangement of up to $7 million for relocation and tenant improvements.

The proposed lease would cover the building’s seventh and eighth floors from about Oct. 1, 2026, through Sept. 30, 2038. Denver’s lease request says rent would start at $22 per square foot and rise by 50 cents per square foot each year. Alterra would receive one year of free rent and a $150-per-square-foot credit for tenant improvements.

At the initial rent and stated square footage, the free-rent period would be worth about $1.42 million, while the tenant-improvement credit would be worth about $9.7 million. Those are calculated values; the lease request does not state separate dollar amounts for the concessions or explain the credit’s conditions and disbursement rules.

The proposed $7 million would not be a direct grant to Alterra. Under the city’s proposed Development Project Funding Agreement with the Denver Downtown Development Authority, the city would transfer up to $7 million in existing authority to the Downtown Development Authority, which would provide Alterra a project loan for relocation and tenant improvements. The loan proceeds would be backed by tax-increment-financing revenue generated within the authority’s boundaries.

The authority’s board approved the Alterra project and the property’s proposed inclusion in the authority on July 22. City Council was scheduled to consider the property’s inclusion at second reading on Sept. 14. The supplied records do not establish that the financing has closed, funds have been disbursed or the lease has been approved and executed.

The city describes the proposal as an economic-development effort intended to keep Alterra headquartered in Denver and support investment in Uptown.