Buerger Brother History

The designer of the Buerger Brothers Building and the magnificent Mayan Theatre, Montana Fallis, was a prominent early 20th century architect who is acknowledged today to be a local master of early modern architecture in Denver, in particular, the Art Deco style.

1885 - Hugo, Otto, Max and Julius Buerger, four German-born brothers, founded the Buerger Brothers Barbershop. On April 8, 1930 the firm moved from the 1400 block of Larimer Street, creating the company’s new headquarters building, the Buerger Brothers Building.

The building featured a wholesale showroom on the ground floor and mezzanine stocked with scissors, combs, manicure equipment, barber and beauty shop chairs, creams, lotions, powders and preparations. On the fourth floor, the Buerger Brothers Supply Company manufactured toilet waters and produced a group of products called the “Sorority” line that included facial oil, bath crystals and oil shampoo.

1892 - The Denver Fire Clay Building (J. Brien, architect) was built as a Victorian two-story, cast-iron frame, red brick commercial building.

1895 - The building was first occupied by the Denver Fire Clay Company.

1927 - The Denver Fire Clay Company added a third floor.

1937 - The building was purchased by the Buerger Brothers, and the facade was clad with gray Art Deco-style terra cotta panels manufactured by the Denver Terra Cotta Company. The facade may have been the work of Myrlin Fallis, who carried on his father’s firm after Montana Fallis died in 1938.

1972 - The Buerger Brothers moved out of their building and the Denver Fire Clay Building. A local merchant purchased both the buildings with the intention of making them the home of Crest Distributing. Instead, Crest remained at 1443 Larimer Street, where they were the only holdout in the development of Larimer Square. The Champa Street buildings were abandoned, and used as storage space for second-hand office furniture and military surplus.

1997 - The developers embarked on the conversion of the Buerger Brothers and Denver Fire Clay Buildings into residential rental lofts. Sprung Construction did the renovation, with architecture and design by Oz Architecture and Kimble Hobbs.

1998 - BUERGER BROTHERS LOFTS
The Buerger Brothers Lofts opened in June 1998 as 31 luxury lofts, which included 9,715 square feet of office space in the 64,791-square-foot building.

2002 - With the completion of three major historic renovations, City Lofts is born and authentic loft living in Downtown Denver becomes a part of the fabric of Colorado’s urban lifestyle.

A special Thank You to the Colorado Historical Society, The State Historical Fund and The Department of Housing and Neighborhood Services for the City and County of Denver.

Clock Tower History

The architects for the Clock Tower Building are undocumented, the company’s records having been lost. However, both the overall design as well as the handling of the specific decorative details indicate that the building’s architects were most probably the distinguished firm of Fisher and Fisher, a partnership of William E. Fisher and Arthur A. Fisher, acknowledged masters of early 20th century Denver architecture.

The Clock Tower Building is a fine example of early 20th century commercial-style architecture in Downtown Denver. The structure is wood frame and brick masonry with terra cotta trim.

1923 - The Clock Tower Building was originally constructed by the McPhee & McGinnity Lumber Company. During the late 19th and early 20th centuries, McPhee & McGinnity was the largest building materials supplier in Colorado. Founded in the mid-1860s, the firm was a part of the very beginning of the construction of Denver, Colorado. The company reached the high point of its success during the 1920s. The Clock Tower Building served as its paint manufacturing facility. The building is located at the base of what was then the new Broadway viaduct, with easy access across the main Denver rail yards. The Broadway viaduct, like the Clock Tower Building, was completed in 1923. The last of the old steel-girder viaducts in the Central Platte Valley, the Broadway viaduct was demolished in 2000.

1931 - In the year after the stock market crash of 1929, the McPhee & McGinnity Lumber Company was closed.

1932 - The Clock Tower Building was purchased by the Pittsburgh Glass Company, which utilized it as a paint warehouse and distribution center. The vintage sign on the north side of the building is not to be missed.

1955 - The building was purchased and served as an incubator space for a local inventor.

2002 - Clock Tower Lofts. The Developers, Oz Architecture and Sprung Construction have masterfully renovated the 1923 building into The Clock Tower Lofts at 2500 Broadway. This 37-unit rental loft project totals approximately 50,747 square feet.

A special Thank You to the Colorado Historical Society, The State Historical Fund and The Department of Housing and Neighborhood Services for the City and County of Denver.

Chamber Loft History

The Chamber of Commerce Building has architectural significance due to its fine Neoclassical Revival design. The architects, Willis Marean and Albert Norton, acknowledged masters of early 20th century Denver architecture, clad the steel-frame structure with gray Colorado granite at the first floor, gray terra cotta simulating granite on the second floor, and white terra cotta on the upper floors.

Marean and Norton received two of the most highly sought-after public commissions of the time, the 1912 Neoclassical-style Cheesman Park Pavilion in Cheesman Park, and the Neoclassical-style 1919 Greek Theater in Civic Center Park.

1884 - The Chamber of Commerce was founded to help bring the railroad to Denver.

1910 - The Chamber of Commerce built its first headquarters, which was dedicated and fully open for business in 1911. Originally, the Chamber’s executive offices occupied the ground floor of the building, along with offices for the group’s directors and secretaries. The Chamber of Commerce was not only important to the commercial development of the city, but to its cultural development as well. The Chamber remained in the building until 1950.

1951 - The Chamber of Commerce Building became a multi-tenant office building.

2000 - THE CHAMBER LOFTS
The Chamber of Commerce’s 410 facade light bulbs were restored in 2000 when the Developers, Oz Architecture and Sprung Construction completed renovation of the building into 39 rental lofts and 7,201 square feet of commercial space in the 59,980-square-foot building.

2002 - With the completion of three major historic renovations, City Lofts is born and authentic loft living in Downtown Denver becomes part of the fabric of Colorado’s urban lifestyle.

A special Thank You to the Colorado Historical Society, The State Historical Fund and The Department of Housing and Neighborhood Services for the City and County of Denver.