One Lincoln Park tower sales slow

For Immediate Release On: 1/30/2009

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Paula Moore - The Denver Business Journa at

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Sales at downtown Denver’s high-profile, much-anticipated One Lincoln Park condo tower at 2001 Lincoln St. — marketed as “a legendary address” — have been less than legendary in the economic downturn.

Only about 30 percent of the striking high-rise’s condominiums — 53 of 180 units — were listed as sold the week of Jan. 25, and the rest were held by the project’s ownership group, EO LLC, according to Denver County real estate records.

The 32-story, $100 million One Lincoln Park was roughly 80 percent presold late last summer, as the project approached completion of exterior construction in September, according to investors. During presales, a buyer puts down a deposit to buy a condo, but doesn’t own the unit until the sale closes.

But slow sales haven’t been the condo tower’s only challenges; it’s had a difficult birth.

One Lincoln Park’s construction, started in 2006, coincided with a softening housing market, causing slow presales. Its number of units and development budget dropped from 184 condos costing $140 million to build to its present numbers.

Its original developer, Erik Osborn, quit in 2008 after being indicted for felony theft of $255,000 from two projects — including $147,000 from One Lincoln Park, according to the indictment.

“It’s a challenging real estate environment, as everybody knows, but we think we’re holding our own. … We’ve had some contracts fall out simply because it’s difficult for people, given everything that’s going on [with the economy] to get financing,” said Ed Cerkovnik, a One Lincoln Park investor and coordinator of the project’s development. “The jumbo loan market is pretty seized up right now.”

Cerkovnik, who’s also founder and president of Denver’s Breckenridge Holding Co., expects another 45 unit sales at One Lincoln Park to close in 30 to 45 days.

To help boost sales, the project is considering offering seller carry-back financing, whereby One Lincoln Park’s ownership basically acts as a bank carrying a second lien on a condo, which the buyer pays down every month, Cerkovnik said.

Project owners also hired Kentwood City Properties LLC of Denver as new principal listing agent for condo sales last fall. The brokerage firm replaced Angela Osborn, Erik Osborn’s wife, who remains “somewhat involved” in the project’s sales, according to Cerkovnik.

“We’re closing on units almost every week, and we’ve signed new contracts,” said metro Denver car dealer Doug “Dealin’ Doug” Moreland, another One Lincoln Park investor.

Asking prices range from $400,000 for lower-level units to $3 million for penthouses.

Moreland, who is buying a unit on the 28th floor, hopes sales will pick up after the winter, when real estate sales usually slow.

Buyers who have bought One Lincoln Park condos include doctors, lawyers, trusts such as the William C. Matthews Trust ($892,500 purchase price) and business people such as jeweler Larry Blauweiss ($346,315) of Fifth Avenue Designs Inc. in Cherry Creek North and real estate broker Carl Lyday ($895,500) of Front Range Properties in Englewood, according to real estate records.

One condo owner, Steve Michonski with Prudential Colorado Properties LLC in Vail, has put his one-bedroom, $365,500 unit up for rent for $1,950 a month, according to an online advertisement.

Erik Osborn’s legal woes are continuing to rise
Former One Lincoln Park developer Erik Osborn continues to face new legal challenges.

The attorney representing Osborn following his 2008 indictment for alleged felony theft of $255,000 — Jeffrey Pagliuca of Denver law firm Haddon, Morgan, Mueller, Jordan, Mackey & Foreman — received court approval to resign from the case in late December because of “irreconcilable differences.”

Pagliuca said in his withdrawal motion, filed in Denver District Court, that Osborn failed to adhere to his fee agreement with the lawyer, and the two had “an inability to communicate caused by the client.”

In the motion, Pagliuca also asked the court to postpone Osborn’s trial, scheduled for Feb. 2, to give a new attorney time to prepare.

In a separate legal filing, Breckenridge Brewery Denver sued Osborn in Denver District Court on Jan. 26, alleging he failed to repay a 2008 loan of $900,000 plus $57,490 in interest by the loan’s Jan. 2 due date, according to the complaint.

Breckenridge Brewery Denver is a partnership that owned the land on which Osborn’s Diamond Lofts condo project was built across from Coors Field, and formerly owned the Breckenridge Brewery.

The group isn’t related to the brewery’s current owner, One Lincoln Park investor Ed Cerkovnik’s Breckenridge Holding Co., Cerkovnik said.

About Trenka & Associates: Trenka & Associates is one of Downtown Denver's leading Real Estate Companies. http://www.condosandlofts.com

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