The Denver Grand Hyatt hotel sold

The Grand Hyatt Denver hotel and companion 555 Seventeenth Street office building, both owned by interests related to Denver billionaire Phil Anschutz, have been sold.

A fund advised by UBS Global Asset Management purchased the distinctive properties for undisclosed terms. Local hotel experts expected the hotel to attract $200,000 a room, or $102 million.

Both buildings rank among metro Denver's 10 largest hotels and office structures.
UBS Global is part of UBS AG (NYSE: UBS) of Switzerland, which was created in 1998 by the merger of Union Bank of Switzerland and Swiss Bank Corp.
Both sellers are affiliated with Anschutz.

The 511-room Grand Hyatt, located at 1750 Welton St., was owned by Sarco Hotel LLC, which was owned by interests of Sue Anschutz-Rodgers, Phil Anschutz's sister. The hotel, metro Denver's seventh-largest, will continue to be operated by Hyatt Hotels Corp.
The adjacent 683,330-square-foot 555 Seventeenth Street office building was owned by Antelope Real Estate Co. LLC, an Anschutz family entity. The 38-story high-rise, whose name also is its address, is metro Denver's seventh-largest office building.

Finished in 1978, the office tower was Denver's tallest building until the opening of 707 17th Street in 1981. The structure formerly was called Anaconda Tower.

Cushman & Wakefield of Colorado Inc. will continue to manage and handle leasing for the office building. Major tenants include the Holland & Hart LLP law firm, Delta Petroleum Corp. and The Anschutz Co.

The hotel changed its name to Grand Hyatt last year to distinguish itself from a new downtown sister hotel, the 1,100-room Hyatt Regency Denver at the Colorado Convention Center. Before the name change, the hotel underwent a three-year, $15 million upgrade started in 2003 that included remodeling rooms, redoing the lobby and improving 41,000 square feet of meeting space.

The hotel also took over management last year of The Pinnacle Club on the 38th floor of the 555 Seventeenth Street office building. The former private club now is a restaurant and martini bar.