The rehabilitation of The Exchange
The masonry and window rehabilitation of the Exchange Building in Denver has begun in earnest, with the building’s history at the center of the project. Justin Croft, principal of the River North District of Denver-based real estate development team Natural Object, said he and his team are working to bring the building back to life with as many nods to the past as possible, although the building will be rebranded The Exchange.
The work has attracted curious passersby, and many have shared with Croft their stories about the building. One gentleman stopped Croft and said his father manned a candy shop in the building when he was a boy. Now in his 70s, he will return in a few weeks to walk through the building with Croft, a self-proclaimed history nerd, and point out what he remembers and the former locations of various things, including the candy shop.
Croft said his goal is to leverage the unique aspects of the property and its location to allow the public to experience the building’s stories and historical uses.
“If it became an entirely private office building, the average person walking down the street wouldn’t be able to come in and experience that pretty remarkable architecture,” Croft said. “It’s unusual to have what looks like kind of an early 20th century Chicago office building just rising out of the middle of the ground in the middle of former stockyards.”
He said even with the redevelopment of the National Western Center, this building still really stands apart in its design from the others that surround it, including the Colorado State University Spur Campus. Croft said Brad Buchanan from the National Western Center Authority has often called the Exchange Building the heartbeat of the campus, and Croft said he wants to honor that.
THE RESTORATION
The building they refer to as Building A — the one with columns built in 1918 — will be restored as a mixed-use space to allow the public to enjoy a restaurant in the former Denver Union Stockyards Bank space, located on the left inside the door. Croft isn’t able to reveal the name or operator of the restaurant but said it will be on brand for the building.
In the north wing, there will be a Western goods retail business that will be announced in the coming months. Floors two through four will be office space occupied by groups Croft said will uniquely benefit from being located at the National Western Center. The Livestock Exchange Building Alliance Partner Group purchased the building; the group includes Colorado Cattlemen’s Association, EXDO Development and the National Western Center Authority.
“The office space is really geared towards groups that are in some kind of agriculture — energy, food, water; those key industries that really have a reason to be next to CSU Spur and all the research going on there,” Croft said. “What’s been interesting in talking to different tenant groups that are interested in this building is it is a mix of what I would call ag tech — kind of really the most forward-facing component of the industry — along with more legacy trade organizations. So there’s just this very interesting opportunity for these different sort of aspects of the industry to come together in a really legacy place that has always been about that sort of economy in that industry.”
The original glass is being rehabilitated in the original double-hung windows. The masonry work was cleaned and repaired. The original terrazzo is being restored, as well as the millwork, wainscoting, plaster details, baseboards and coffered ceilings. Even the board where prices were displayed will remain in its original location. The building, which has been rather dark, will be much brighter with the renovation of the original skylight on the fourth floor above the grand stair that has been covered with a drop ceiling for 40 years or more.
IN THE NATIONAL REGISTER
Built in 1898, the “original building” — which isn’t actually the first one built at that location but is the first permanent masonry building there — will be restored. That restoration will be rather intense; that portion had a fire at one point. The last portion was originally built as railroad offices and has housed the Stockyard Saloon, and it will continue to do so. The building has also been nominated to be listed on the National Register of Historic Places, and that should be complete by January.
“At its time, it was a very prominent place and was arguably the epicenter of the largest contributing industry in the state of Colorado,” Croft said. “One of the board members, the CCA president, likes to say that this building built the state of Colorado. After the mining bust and the Sherman Act, the livestock industry was the backbone of the state for many decades. Part of our approach is really trying to return this building to a place of prominence.”
He said Denverites are eager to connect to the story of Denver and understand the DNA of the city and state, making this an incredible place to do that and understand the important of the livestock industry to the state.
Croft anticipates the building will open for the National Western Stock Show in 2026.
EXDO (“Extended Downtown”) Development is a multi-generation Denver firm that oversees the development and management of commercial and residential property throughout the Denver metropolitan area, including holdings in Denver’s historic Five Points neighborhood, Denver’s vibrant RiNo Art District, Denver’s 40th and Colorado Station and Adams County’s Federal Boulevard corridor.
Fifth-generation Denverite Andrew Feinstein, CEO and managing partner of EXDO, has a personal tie to the Livestock Exchange Building via his great-grand-uncle Leon Hattenbach, who served as a Colorado state senator, was a national leader among retail grocers and who frequently conducted business in the building.
The National Western Center Authority is a nonprofit responsible for ensuring the day-to-day experience of the campus realizes the mission and vision of the National Western Center. The Authority manages everything from programming to events, to curating the tenant mix, to operations and maintenance. The Authority is guided by a 13-member board of directors.
CCA was founded in 1867, nine years before Colorado became a state. It became the first statewide cattlemen’s association in the nation and has operated ever since. It was instrumental in the formation of the National Western Stock Show (1899), the Colorado Brand Board (1902), the Colorado Beef Council (1956) and the Colorado Cattlemen’s Agricultural Land Trust (1995).
