Denver Real Estate Developer Simone Aldric Bets on Adaptive Reuse

Simone Aldric has built her development firm's reputation around a specialty that fewer Denver developers focus on: converting aging industrial buildings into mixed-use residential and retail spaces rather than pursuing ground-up new construction.

"There's a lot of interesting old building stock in Denver that's structurally sound but functionally obsolete for its original industrial use," Aldric said. "Converting it is more complicated than building new, but it preserves character you just can't recreate." Her firm has completed four adaptive reuse projects over the past six years, converting former warehouses and a decommissioned brewery building into apartments and ground-floor retail space.

The Complexity of Working With Old Buildings

Adaptive reuse projects carry risks and complications that ground-up construction generally avoids, including unknown structural conditions uncovered mid-renovation and the challenge of retrofitting modern building systems into structures never designed for residential use. Aldric says her firm has learned to build significant contingency budgets into every adaptive reuse project specifically to absorb these unpredictable costs.

Her firm has also developed close working relationships with the city's historic preservation office, since several of the buildings the firm has converted carry historic designation status that constrains certain renovation choices. Navigating these preservation requirements while still delivering financially viable residential units has become one of the firm's core areas of expertise.

Finding a Niche in a Competitive Market

Denver's development market includes many firms pursuing conventional new construction, and Aldric says her adaptive reuse specialty has helped differentiate her firm in a competitive local development landscape. The approach has also proven popular with city officials interested in preserving Denver's industrial architectural history rather than seeing older buildings demolished for new construction.

Aldric says she's currently evaluating two additional potential conversion projects, though she notes that rising construction costs have made the financial math on adaptive reuse projects increasingly challenging, requiring more careful site selection than earlier in her career.