After four decades in the same Denver location, Brownstein Hyatt Farber Schreck will move its Denver headquarters in 2023. But the relocation will be just down the street, keeping the venerable firm downtown.
As of next spring, the law and lobbying firm’s new home will be the 30-story, 452-foot office tower Block 162 at 675 15th St. The firm will be the largest tenant in the skyscraper, with more than 300 employees in the city. Firmwide, that number totals over 600.
Brownstein spent the past four decades at 410 17th St.
Brownstein will occupy the 26th to 29th floors of Block 162, with 100,000 square feet of office space. The firm’s team highlighted the skyscraper’s indoor and outdoor amenities, access to public transportation and its certification as a LEED Gold building, which sets a standard of sustainability.
“We’re interested in creating a space that’s going to fit the post-COVID workflow,” said Rich Benenson, managing partner at Brownstein, in a telephone interview. He described the firm as in “growth mode.”
Brownstein won’t be the only legal presence in its new building, as it will join Haynes and Boone LLP and Michael Best & Friedrich LLP. Sherman & Howard LLC signed the first lease at Block 162, said David Haltom, senior vice president of development for Patrinely Group. The Houston-based national real estate firm developed Block 162, which is the 11th tallest building in Denver, and has been in the market since the late 1990s.
Including Brownstein, almost 50% of the building’s leasing space is now committed, Haltom said. He highlighted Block 162’s indoor/outdoor amenity space. “We’re very proud to be the first property in the market that has offered that for our tenants.”
“Going forward, we will probably not see another new, high-quality office development in Denver that does not include some high-end level indoor/outdoor amenity space,” particularly post-COVID, Haltom added.
Brownstein was founded 54 years ago in the Mile High City by Norman Brownstein, Jack Hyatt and Steve Farber, childhood friends and University of Colorado alumni. Frank Schreck kicked off his own career separately in 1968, then merged his practice with Brownstein Hyatt & Farber in 2007.
Two of the founders died in recent years: Hyatt in 2017 at 75 and Farber in 2020 at 76.
In addition to its Denver location, the firm has 11 other nationwide offices in New Mexico, New Jersey, Nevada, Wyoming, California and Washington, D.C.
The firm worked on this move with Cushman & Wakefield brokers Todd Wheeler and Doug Wulf, and its designer is Anderson Mason Dale’s Gillian Johnson.
Updated at 11:31 a.m. MST: Gillian Johnson is a designer with Anderson Mason Dale.
