A 134-acre piece of property near Denver International Airport, which was poised for development before the owner filed for chapter 11 bankruptcy protection last year, has sold for $18.1 million at a bankruptcy auction, the Denver Business Journal reported. Hilltop at DIA LLC filed for bankruptcy protection in June 2021 due to pandemic-caused delays in finalizing entitlements. Hilltop at DIA LLC is owned and managed by Michael Graham, managing partner for the real estate investment firm Sebastian Partners LLC. Graham had proposed a $400 million mixed-use project near DIA for a master-planned community called Avelon that would include hotels, apartments, roughly 1,100 single-family lots and 40 acres of commercial space. Graham exclusively told the Denver Business Journal in 2019 that the project would be anchored by an amphitheater with a retractable roof, which would allow for year-round events. But by October 2021, Hilco Real Estate LLC, an Illinois-based firm that specializes in real estate strategy for clients, had put out a request for proposals on behalf of Hilltop at DIA for the land at 22050 E. 64th Ave., located at the corner of East 64th Avenue and Picadilly Road near E-470. The property sold to SAV Land Holdings West LLC on Dec. 29, according to Adams County property records. That entity is associated with Minneapolis-based real estate firm Sherman Associates Inc. An order approving the sale, filed in mid-December with the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of Colorado, confirms Sherman Ventures Management LLC as the successful bidder.
