Cherry Creek developer BMC Investments will break ground this week on one of the last large developable lots in Cherry Creek North with a 100,000-square-foot, seven-story office building at 255 Fillmore St., CEO Matt Joblon said.

The building, dubbed Office at 255 Fillmore, is 93% pre-leased, with one of the street-level retail spots going to “nationally acclaimed” restaurant Le Colonial, which blends Vietnamese and French cuisine.

The space now holds a parking lot.

It’s the seventh large development in Cherry Creek for BMC in the last decade, including the The Clayton Members Club and Hotel, Halcyon and Moxy hotels, Steele Creek apartments, St. Paul Collection, 240 St. Paul and the Financial House.

“This was probably the fastest we’ve ever pre-leased an office building,” Joblon told The Denver Gazette. “There was enough demand that we could have leased a building one-and-a-half to two times as large.”

Crusoe Energy has pre-leased the top two floors.

The building will go up relatively quickly, with construction expected to be finished in the third quarter of 2023.

“We could not be more excited about bringing our beloved Le Colonial restaurant to the vibrant and great neighborhood of Cherry Creek. We hope to bring memorable moments for the community,” Rick Wahlstedt, co-owner of Le Colonial, said in a release.

Denver office space specialist Doug Wulf, executive managing director for Cushman and Wakefield, said Cherry Creek “inherently has always had appeal like no other submarket in metro Denver.”

“Both pre-pandemic, and even today, it has vibrant street activity, daytime amenities just walking out the door and a myriad of things to go see and do,” Wulf said. “That just doesn’t exist in any other non-downtown location.”

Cushman is not involved in the 255 Fillmore project.

“Tenants (businesses) want energy and vibrancy post-pandemic as every tenant is looking to get people back to the office,” Wulf said.

And Class A office space, including new-built, is at a premium and in high demand in metro Denver. Lease rates are going for more than $45 per square foot, he said. Vacancy rates for Class A office space are just 11% in the Cherry Creek area, as opposed to 20% in Denver’s central business district.

“We’ve seen that flight to quality office space post-pandemic, and now it’s also a flight to experience,” Wulf said.

The experience in Cherry Creek feels safer than downtown, Joblon said.

“For companies that want to be in the high-end areas, it’s the safest,” he said. “Plus there’s all the health and wellness facilities there, the top restaurants and bars. A lot of people are choosing Cherry Creek.”

“We first acquired this parcel in 2019 and are thrilled to finally bring 255 Fillmore to life,” Jeff Stonger, chief investment officer for BMC Investments, said in the release. “There is incredibly high demand across all product types in Cherry Creek North, but particularly office, as demonstrated by the fact that we are already more than 93% pre-leased.”

Other amenities will include a private, sixth-floor open-air terrace, outdoor greenspace, valet parking, bike storage and a concierge.

Joblon said the relatively short construction timeline comes from not having to completely finish interiors, like a developer would have to do with hotel or multifamily projects.

“We’ve done several of these, so we know how to minimize the impact of construction,” Joblon said. “We could actually build it faster if we had more real estate there — that site is so tight. … But it’s all about logistics.”

Newmark is marketing the office space. Sam Zaitz at JLL is leasing the retail and represented BMC on the Le Colonial lease. FirstBank provided financing. The architect for the project is 4240 Architecture and the general contractor is Haselden.