Unico in Colorado celebrates the completion of The Circa Building in Denver

Unico, a real estate investment firm, delivers high-performing Class A office to a reborn Platte Street

“The Circa Building was built for forward-thinking companies like Xero who are taking Denver to the next level,” said Austin Kane, Vice President and Regional Director for Unico. “As a community, we’re embarking on a first-hand chapter of growth, building upon the rich history of Platte Street and the surrounding area while forging our own path. We strive to be a true partner for businesses looking to challenge the status quo.”

Located at the base of the Highland Bridge, the four-story Circa Building is inspired by the area’s 150-year history of commerce and industry. The building’s contemporary design intentionally reflects historical structures found along Platte Street – including the Root and Zang Buildings, which are also owned and managed by Unico.

The Circa Building is designed to support innovators—ready to meet the most demanding of technology requirements, while also respecting the environment and wellbeing of our neighbors.

Key design features include a uniquely fluid, functional and inviting lobby with a variety of seating areas for work and socializing; ground-floor retail concepts to create a gathering place for occupants, neighbors and visitors; secure, heated bike parking, and spa-like locker rooms and shower facilities for tenants’ use; a 50-person auditorium and screening room; a private board room; and a secure common area with 20-foot sliding glass doors that open to a 1,000-square-foot all-season, private outdoor plaza, offering a fire pit and café seating.

“Unico has long-held appreciation for Platte Street, and over the last several years, we’ve actively invested in this dynamic neighborhood because we saw the opportunity to unlock a deeper potential,” said Jackie Costigan, SVP of Development at Unico and principal at Costigan Integrated, a wholly owned subsidiary of Unico, which oversaw the development of The Circa Building. “The Circa Building is designed to support innovators—ready to meet the most demanding of technology requirements, while also respecting the environment and wellbeing of our neighbors. With its delivery, we’ve realized our vision to develop a high-performing building where people can be and do their best in a way that is authentic to the rich history of its location.”

The Circa Building features multiple sustainable elements such as the white Thermoplastic Polyolefin (TPO) on the building’s roof, which helps reduce the heat island effect, and solar panels (196 kW PV system), which offset nearly a third of the total energy costs of the building. The solar panels were deployed by Unico Solar Investors, a division of Unico that develops, owns and operates solar energy systems both within and outside Unico’s portfolio. The design also incorporates features such as low-flow toilets, sinks and showers, resulting in a 36 percent reduction in water usage compared to a typical building of this size.

Additional sustainability metrics that contributed to the building’s LEED Platinum certification include:

• 3 percent energy costs savings due to the installation of state-of-the-art HVAC systems
• 77 percent of the total building materials, by value, were manufactured using recycled materials
• 68 percent of the total building materials, by value, were manufactured and extracted within 500 miles of the project site
• 3 percent of all regularly occupied spaces have a direct line of site to outdoor views

Partners on the project include Confluent Development (construction manager), Swinerton Builders (general contractor), Open Studio Architecture (architect), JLL (office leasing broker), and Cushman & Wakefield (retail leasing broker).

To learn more about The Circa Building, visit https://thecircabuilding.com.

About Unico Properties LLC

Unico is a real estate investor, developer and full-service operator focused on office and multifamily assets throughout the United States. Committed to transforming the built environment for the better, Unico has been acquiring, managing and developing commercial properties in Colorado for more than 12 years. Unico currently owns and operates nearly 4 million square feet of commercial properties in Colorado. For more information, please visit https://unicoprop.com.   

Quotes regarding Unico and The Circa Building

“This part of our city is an area that longed for a vision, longed for an identity and a persona, and it longed for investment. The commitment of developers like Unico to invest here and for companies like Xero to come here and invest their resources, their time, and really invest the future of their company, sends a strong message about what’s happening here in our city — our tech companies are growing exponentially and they need space like this in order to get the right team members to help these companies to grow.” — Tami Door, president of the Downtown Denver Partnership

“We chose Denver to be the Americas HQ for Xero really to help support our growth in the Americas and because we wanted to be part of our thriving tech scene that is building here. We are thrilled to among the ranks of some of the best tech companies in the country here in Denver — we think this is the perfect place to do really beautiful business from.” — Andy Burner, vice president of people and business operations at Xero

Press clips

• “Downtown Denver keeps up tech momentum as Xero celebrates opening Americas’ HQ on Platte Street” — The Denver Post
• “Xero moves headquarters to Circa Building” — Bisnow
• “Unico delivers the Circa Building on Platte Street” — Mile High CRE
• “The Circa Building is the latest addition to the growing development on Platte Street” — Denverite
• “Unico Properties delivers 96,000 SF mixed-use building in Denver” — REBusiness Online
• “Unico delivers latest development with The Circa Building” — Colorado Real Estate Journal