The entrance to Granite Tower at 1099 18th St. in Denver. (BusinessDen file)
The financial services company Empower cannot escape its downtown lease early.
Denver District Court Judge Martin Egelhoff ruled Aug. 5 that Empower’s lease at Granite Tower, 1099 18th St., expressly prohibits it from moving out before early 2028.
“The contracts are clear and unambiguous,” he wrote of the lease paperwork, “and the arguments asserted by Empower…are insufficient to create any ambiguity.”
In 2020, the Greenwood Village-based Empower acquired Personal Capital, a national wealth management firm, for about $1 billion. As a result, it also acquired Personal Capital’s lease for 31,248 square feet on the 24th and 25th floors of Granite Tower.
The following year, Granite Tower was sold to Florida-based CP Group, which paid $203.5 million for the 31-story structure and its nearly 600,000 square feet of space.
Then, in April 2023, Empower told CP Group that it would be terminating its lease in October of this year. Empower was told by CP that it cannot do that because it is either an “assignee or subtenant,” not a transferee, and therefore lacks power to terminate the lease.
Empower sued its landlord and asked Egelhoff to decide the matter. He did so Aug. 5.
While an original lease did allow for early termination, that provision was removed when an amended lease was signed in late 2018, according to Egelhoff’s eight-page ruling. His decision cancels a trial that had been scheduled for November and closes the case.
Remaining in its lease until early 2028 will cost Empower about $3 million, the company estimates. It must also pay the legal bills of CP Group, according to Egelhoff.
Empower was represented by the attorneys Christopher Casolaro and Kyle Hosmer in the Denver office of Faegre Drinker Biddle & Reath, who declined to comment.
CP Group was represented by Patrick Hickey and Allison Hester, who were with Moye White when the case began, then transferred to the Denver office of Fennemore when that national firm acquired Moye White’s lawyers. They also declined to comment.
The entrance to Granite Tower at 1099 18th St. in Denver. (BusinessDen file)
The financial services company Empower cannot escape its downtown lease early.
Denver District Court Judge Martin Egelhoff ruled Aug. 5 that Empower’s lease at Granite Tower, 1099 18th St., expressly prohibits it from moving out before early 2028.
“The contracts are clear and unambiguous,” he wrote of the lease paperwork, “and the arguments asserted by Empower…are insufficient to create any ambiguity.”
In 2020, the Greenwood Village-based Empower acquired Personal Capital, a national wealth management firm, for about $1 billion. As a result, it also acquired Personal Capital’s lease for 31,248 square feet on the 24th and 25th floors of Granite Tower.
The following year, Granite Tower was sold to Florida-based CP Group, which paid $203.5 million for the 31-story structure and its nearly 600,000 square feet of space.
Then, in April 2023, Empower told CP Group that it would be terminating its lease in October of this year. Empower was told by CP that it cannot do that because it is either an “assignee or subtenant,” not a transferee, and therefore lacks power to terminate the lease.
Empower sued its landlord and asked Egelhoff to decide the matter. He did so Aug. 5.
While an original lease did allow for early termination, that provision was removed when an amended lease was signed in late 2018, according to Egelhoff’s eight-page ruling. His decision cancels a trial that had been scheduled for November and closes the case.
Remaining in its lease until early 2028 will cost Empower about $3 million, the company estimates. It must also pay the legal bills of CP Group, according to Egelhoff.
Empower was represented by the attorneys Christopher Casolaro and Kyle Hosmer in the Denver office of Faegre Drinker Biddle & Reath, who declined to comment.
CP Group was represented by Patrick Hickey and Allison Hester, who were with Moye White when the case began, then transferred to the Denver office of Fennemore when that national firm acquired Moye White’s lawyers. They also declined to comment.
