PRESS RELEASES

Hines Signs Fogo de Chão Restaurant for Premier Office Building in LoDo

8/18/08

(DENVER, CO) – The Denver office of Hines, the international real estate firm, announced today that the Brazilian steakhouse restaurant, Fogo de Chão Churrascaria, has signed a lease for 12,610 square feet on the first floor in 1515 Wynkoop. Hines is developing the 304,542-square-foot, eight-story office building at the southwest corner of 15th and Wynkoop streets in the heart of Denver’s Lower Downtown (LoDo) neighborhood. Construction on the project commenced in April 2007, and completion is scheduled for February 2009. Fogo de Chão has targeted June 2009 for their restaurant opening.  

Van Gilder Insurance, the anchor tenant, is scheduled to occupy the building in March 2009, and Sam Gary Jr. & Associates will occupy in May 2009.   

 “We are pleased to add Fogo de Chão Churrascaria’s first Denver location to LoDo’s premier office property,” said Hines Senior Project Manager Jay Despard. “The location is extremely attractive for them due to the building’s proximity to Union Station, the Pepsi Center, Coors Field and the many residential loft buildings in the LoDo and Central Platte Valley markets. Fogo de Chão has positioned themselves perfectly. They will be a huge amenity for both the neighborhood and the office tenants within our building. Watching their success in other markets like Chicago, Dallas, Washington, DC, and Beverly Hills has us extremely excited to add them as our retail anchor.”      

Ken Himel and Chris Leiser of David, Hicks & Lampert, the retail brokers for 1515 Wynkoop, represented Hines in the transaction. Rob Rowe of Sierra Realty Advisors represented Fogo de Chão.

Designed by Hartman-Cox Architects, the exterior of 1515 Wynkoop will be clad in brick and glass, in keeping with the historical tradition of its neighboring structures. The building will also feature a grand lobby entrance directly off of Wynkoop; 27,126 square feet of retail space on the first level; more than 10,000 square feet of outdoor terrace space spread across various levels of the building; and 424 below-grade parking spaces on four levels. Large, flexible floor plates ranging from 27,000 square feet to 48,000 square feet will allow for efficient space planning.

1515 Wynkoop has been pre-certified LEED-CS Silver by the U.S. Green Building Council. This pre-certification establishes the building as a major sustainable design development prior to construction, and is a first for Denver and Colorado.

Jamie Gard and Nathan Johnson of the Frederick Ross Group are the office leasing brokers for 1515 Wynkoop.

Opened in 1979, Fogo de Chão Churrascaria is a Brazilian chain of upmarket churrascaria (Brazilian steakhouse), full-service restaurants with 11 locations in the U.S. and six in Brazil. For further information, visit www.fogodechao.com.

Hines entered the Denver market in 1983 with the development of the 52-story Wells Fargo Center (aka the Cash Register building), and in 1999, the firm developed the 13-story 4600 South Syracuse building in the Denver Tech Center. Hines has further bolstered its Denver presence with the acquisition of the Guaranty Bank Building on the corner of 17th and Market Street and Mountain View Corporate Center in Broomfield. Hines is also known for several resort properties it developed in Colorado including: Aspen Highlands Village; River Valley Ranch in Carbondale; and Zephyr Mountain Lodge in Winter Park.

Hines is a privately owned real estate firm involved in real estate investment, development and property management worldwide. The firm’s historical and current portfolio of projects that are underway, completed, acquired and managed for third parties includes more than 1,000 properties representing approximately 435 million square feet of office, residential, mixed-use, industrial, hotel, medical and sports facilities, as well as large, master-planned communities and land developments. With offices in more than 100 cities in 16 countries, and controlled assets valued at approximately $22.9 billion, Hines is one of the largest real estate organizations in the world. Visit www.hines.com for more information.