Renovation of the historic First National Bank building, also known as the American National Bank building and Holtze Executive Place, into a 246-room hotel.
Constructed in 1911, the 13-story First National Bank building was 17th Street’s first high rise development. The building was designed by Chicago architect Harry Edbrooke, who also designed the Tabor Opera House at 16th and Curtis, with stone and terra cotta ornamentation on the front façade. Over the years the building was renamed the American National Bank building.
In keeping with the times, the front façade was covered with decorative concrete to modernize the look of the building in the 1960s. Like many historic structures downtown, the building became outdated, fell victim to deferred maintenance, and by the 1980s sat vacant.
Late in 1993, Steve Holtze with HEP-Denver, Ltd. approached DURA for TIF assistance to help restore the structure and redevelop it into the Holtze Executive Place extended stay hotel. In 1994 DURA and the City approved an amendment to the newly expanded 53-block Downtown Urban Renewal Area to create the American National Bank TIF area and DURA provided $1.95 million assistance through TIF financing for the proposed $19.5 million renovation.
The redevelopment project fully restored the vacant and underutilized structure and removed the false concrete façade to restore the original Edbrooke façade. The 246 room hotel opened in August 1995 with 6,000 square feet of ground floor retail. The renovated building was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1996 and added to the Downtown Denver Historic District in 2000. The project, in combination with the Boston Lofts and Guaranty Bank Building, helps preserve a full block of historic structures along 17th Street between Stout and Champa Streets.
Following its original development, the hotel moved away from the original extended stay format to a more traditional hotel and was renamed the Magnolia. The first of its kind when it was developed in downtown Denver, the Magnolia Hotel brand has successfully expanded to other U.S. cities with its unique mix of renovated landmark structures in bustling downtown environments.
In July 2008, Denver’s Magnolia Hotel underwent a $7 million renovation, upgrading the interior finishes and guestrooms.