NW Denver apartment tower bought

A private developer has purchased the Eden Manor Senior Living high-rise apartment building in northwest Denver, which has served as affordable housing in a “Christian” atmosphere for more than 50 years.

Eden Manor has a new owner and a new name.

Records show that 1620 Grant St. LLC paid $9.313 million to Eden Manor Management Corp. for the 13-story, 117-unit building at 3405 W. 32nd Ave. in West Highland. The building opened in 1962, according to records. It has been renamed as Julian32 at Highland Square.

Mark Nealon, principal of the group that purchased it, on Friday afternoon said that it is his goal to transition it to a market-rate building, while still providing housing to the existing residents.

“Basically, the Beth Eden (Baptist) church provided housing for congregation and friends and family members and we will continue to provide housing for existing residents during a transition period,” Nealon said.

“We actually worked out an agreement accommodating the current residents living in the building. That was very important to the church and very important to our investors,” he said.

“As they become available, the units will be converted into market rate units.”

The majority of the units are occupied by seniors 55 years or older who have ties to the church.

Cornerstone Apartment Services, which is managing the building, lists only nine units available on its website. Monthly rents start at $875 for a 540-square-foot unit to $1,800 for one 1,032-square-foot units.

“I think most of the units are in the $1,000 to $1,200 range, with an outlier here and there above that,” Nealon said.

Current below-market rents range from $426 to $648 a month, according to Eden Manor’s webpage.

Nealon said he doesn’t know how long it will take for most of the units to be converted into market-rate units.

“It is kind of hard to know that,” he said. “We consider this a long-term investment. We have this long-term investment horizon, so we aren’t giving a lot of thought when it will be completely changing over to market-rate units.”

The building has played a role in the context of the zoning dispute in Denver District Court regarding the nearby properties where RedPeak Properties wants to build three, luxury housing communities, two of which would have five stories and one four-story building.