An eight-story office building in downtown Denver built in 1906 may be on the verge of being repurposed as an apartment complex.
The 96,200 square-foot Symes Building is located at 820 16th Street and has long provided office space for various businesses and public agencies.
Plans submitted to the city by a business entity called Massandra Harbor George Owner, which is listed as a foreign limited-liability company, envisions the building of 96 new apartments in the structure, with ground floor retail space.
The company purchased the building in late 2018 for $24.5 million.
One of the first steel-framed buildings in Denver, the Symes structure, designed by the New York architectural firm of Hunt & Hunt, was perhaps most known to local residents for the Woolworth’s department store that for decades was located on its first floor.
The structure additionally features a marble lobby topped by an ornate domed ceiling.
Located on Denver’s popular 16th Street Pedestrian Mall, the building, now officially called The George, is classified as a Class B structure, and is listed with the Downtown Denver Historical District.
By Garry Boulard
