Shames-Makovsky Realty

Evan Makovsky is changing the face of downtown Denver, one building at a time

By Jennifer Seward

Local real estate visionary Evan Makovsky is on a mission to invest in and give new life to properties dotting Denver’s 16th Street Mall that have long been forgotten.

Makovsky says he is driven by the need to do something that has a positive impact on society. For him, that comes by way of real estate.

(Photo by John Forney)

His firm, the Shames-Makovsky Realty Co., has been located downtown for 40 years, and in its current building at 1400 Glenarm since 1979. During that time, the commercial brokerage/mortgage company has played a role in countless projects in and around downtown Denver.

“Every corner we pass, somehow, in some way, Evan is involved,” says Bryon White of Arvada-based general contractor Milender White. “He’s leased it, sold it or developed it.” White has been working with Makovsky on his most recent project, the renovation of the historic Fontius Building on 16th and Welton streets, a high-profile project that sets the stage for an entire block of much-needed redevelopment.

Breathing New Life Despite repeated efforts over the years to facilitate redevelopment of the neglected four-story Fontius Building, it sat mostly empty for two decades.

In June 2007 Shames-Makovsky announced its acquisition of approximately 75,000 contiguous sq ft on Block 162, which sits between 15th and 16th, Welton and California streets and serves as a gateway between the new 1,100-room Hyatt Regency Convention hotel, the Colorado Convention Center and Denver’s retail and business core on the 16th Street Mall.

The initial purchase included the Standish Hotel—more recently known as the Bank of Denver—and the old Colonial Hotel, which housed a liquor store and bar and has now been torn down by Makovsky. Subsequent purchases of the historic Fontius Building and the Washington-McClintock Building round out Shames-Makovsky’s ownership of the block.

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Block 162 had had many different owners who weren’t willing to sell, but Makovsky was able to buy it piece by piece as each parcel became available. He says he was ultimately successful where others were not because his reputation and established partnerships gave him an advantage with regard to acquiring and financing the property without a formal plan for developing it.

Makovsky took a long-term view of the site’s eventual potential for future development. He says that while he didn’t have a known end-plan, the purchase was not completely altruistic.

“People didn’t want to walk down the street there; we wanted to change the environment of that part of the city,” he says.

Setting the Stage Built in 1923 and originally home to the Steel Department Store, the Fontius Building needed immediate attention and couldn’t wait for the planned overall development of Block 162.

“We decided to do the best job we could to rehabilitate this building, to send a message to the community that as we get into 162, they would not have concerns about what we would do for the community,” Makovsky says.

The first glimpse at that potential was highlighted last month, with the dedication of the newly named Sage Building, which houses the headquarters of Sage Hospitality Resources.

“The renovation of that building is a model of what we want to see in other buildings downtown,” says John Desmond, vice president of urban planning and environment for the Downtown Denver Partnership, who calls Makovsky an “urban hero” for his foresight, perseverance and dedication to the project.

Brian Klipp of Denver’s klipp, the project architect for the Sage Building who is also helping Shames-Makovsky develop the rest of the block, adds: “Makovsky has more than good business sense—he also has a sense of civic responsibility. He simply felt this was an important building to be saved.”

 Makovsky’s team corrected all of the building’s deterioration, restored the terra-cotta exterior and negotiated with landmark preservation to allow the building to be more sustainable.

 However, the most significant piece of the Fontius/Sage project is the message it sends to historic preservationists across the country, Makovsky says.

(Photo by Terry Shapiro)

 Working with Denver’s Historic Landmark Preservation Commission, Makovsky and klipp needed to balance the building’s historical elements with its current and future energy needs—particularly when it came to replacing the windows. Along the street level, windows had been replaced with bad ‘60s architecture, and everyone wanted the new windows to be sympathetic to the historic building.

“It was not easy to see it through, but Evan stuck to his guns,” ultimately replacing the windows with high-efficiency replications that will drastically cut the building’s energy costs, Klipp says. The meticulous process entailed finding original plans, building an original window, using original hardware and building it with the efficiency of a double-pane window.

Future Looks Bright For now, the rest of Block 162 is on hold. “As we started pondering plans for the block in the first quarter of 2008, the world started changing,” says Makovsky, who is waiting for a major end-user to eventually help drive the redevelopment. Makovsky says that “great communities develop over time.” He believes the current economic climate will be a short-term problem, and Denver will rebound quickly once the financial industry gets back on track.

He says that today people are moving into “pods” where they can live, work, play, educate and shop, and downtown Denver is one of those major pods.

“We have the one-of-a-kind draw that other pods don’t have: sports, the DPAC, convention center, museums, things that are one-of-a-kind attractions,” he adds. “Ours is coming about with a lot more planning as opposed to other communities that evolved without the planning, which should make it even more attractive.”

Leaving a Legacy Raised in Pueblo, where he lived until he left for college at the University of Denver, Makovsky says he is living up to the responsibility of passing along his family’s good name. Upon graduating from DU, he formed Shames-Makovsky with his now-deceased maternal uncle.

“We have a vested interest in downtown,” Makovsky says. Indeed, his firm owns the Old Chicago building, the property occupied by Sullivan’s Steak House and the south half of the main floor and basement of the Denver Dry Building (home to Wolf Camera), to name just a few. Makovsky also built the Marriot Residence Inn at 18th and Champa. Owned and managed by Sage Hospitality, Makovsky says the red-brick building was designed to fit seamlessly into the neighborhood.

One of Makovsky’s proudest accomplishments is the redevelopment of the Colorado Business Bank building at 17th and Champa streets, which had fallen into disrepair in the ‘90s. Makovsky bought the land and building and rehabilitated the structure, giving the historic building a new long-term lease on life.

Shames-Makovsky also acts as a lender, funding the development and construction of countless buildings that could not have built or renovated without the firm’s non-conventional loan assistance.

“Evan does business the good old-fashioned way,” White says. “He sits down face to face and looks you in the eye, and you know what you’re dealing with.”

Makovsky says, “It’s not as hard to be truthful and honest as many people think. I know that long after I’m gone, there is this Sage Building that has created some positive environment for our community. It will live on many years longer than me.”

Evan Makovsky
General Partner
Shames-Makovsky Realty Co.
Age 64

Years as a Developer Makovsky doesn’t really consider himself a developer. He has been in real estate for 40 years.

Education University of Denver, bachelor’s and master’s degrees in finance

Hometown Pueblo

Awards Honorary Doctorate, Johnson and Wales University; Honorary Dean, The Franklin L. Burns School of Real Estate and Construction Management, University of Denver

Landmark Projects Redevelopment of the Colorado Bank Building, 17th and Champa; redevelopment of the Marriott Residence Inn, 18th and Champa; the assemblage of Block 162

Key challenges to development in the current market? “There is no confidence in the future.”