Asher Luzzatto’s downtown office-to-residential conversion has new life after six months in purgatory. “There were definitely a lot of moments where I wasn’t sure it was going to happen,” said Luzzatto, 38. On Friday, Luzzatto and Rhoda Krasner agreed to extend a ground lease expiration fro m 29 to 99 years at 633 17th St. The length of the lease had prevented him from securing financing to build his project. Luzzatto has been planning to turn the nearly 1 million square feet of office space at 621 and 633 17th St. into 700 apartments since last spring, when he purchased the 28- and 32-story buildings for $3.2 million. Until last week, a 6,650-square-foot ground lease had held up the entire project. That includes a $63 million loan from the Downtown Denver Development Authority, which he applied for last year. The authority would not vote on approving the loan until the lease was extended. The land is owned by Krasner, who also owns the Lakeside Amusement Park just outside Denver. She refused to extend the lease, according to Luzzatto, on the grounds that the property had been undervalued in its 2015 assessment and that she was owed more than the rent she received over the past decade. Krasner and her daughter, Brenda Fishman, did not respond to a request for comment. Neither did their attorney, David Shore of Hellerstein and Shore. “The one key thing we always agreed on throughout the negotiation is that this development is the best thing that can happen for the city, for the project, and for them, for the value of their ground lease,” Luzzatto said. “Even during times of disagreement, that was always a source of agreement, that we were all better off if this project happens.” Still, negotiations consistently broke down over specific claims about what was owed in the past, Luzzatto said. For long periods, Krasner’s side went dark. There were points where the developer considered moving forward with only half the project. “We wondered whether we should just do the project at 621 and not 633 given the issues with the ground lease, because 621 has always had a clear path forward,” Luzzatto said. “In the hardest moments of the negotiation, that felt like the easy way out.” But he persisted. And last Friday presented a natural deadline. If he had a ground lease extension completed by then, he would be eligible for the DDDA loan as soon as this month. That was the impetus for the two sides to strike a deal, he said. Related Articles Fentress sells Broadway buildings to Magnetic Capital for $13M Colorado mining stocks fall hard after investors sell gold Former Avs defenseman launches beer brand in Denver Coworking space with golf simulators adding a second location in Denver Chicago firm mismanaged project before abandoning it, RiNo developer says “We had a lot of reasons to believe we were overpaying by a lot. But we had to step back and recognize that despite whatever overpayment we’re making, the long-term value of this ground lease for this project was worth it,” Luzzatto said. He hopes to begin construction on the project later this year. Luzzatto hired New York City’s HLW as the architect and Dallas, Texas-based The Beck Group as general contractor. The total development cost is $315 million. In addition to the 712 planned apartments, the final product, dubbed High Fidelity Plaza, will include a children’s museum, bodega, wine/beer bar, cafe, bookstore, daycare, art gallery and coworking space. “I think this project has the potential to be a catalyst for all of downtown. But importantly, at least for the life after dark in this area of downtown, which has been, frankly, a major issue in this area for a long time,” Luzzatto said. A few blocks away, at 1625 and 1675, sits the two-tower Denver Energy Center. Luzzatto is planning to convert one of the office buildings into 360 apartments and will apply for a DDDA loan for it this month, he said. Read more from our partner, BusinessDen. Get more business news by signing up for our Economy Now newsletter. ...read more read less