Hamilton Properties Corporation History

Larry Hamilton formed the firm in 1976 in Denver, Colorado where the focus was on suburban office developments through its first twenty years.

Its Thornton City Center was recognized by the Denver Regional Council of Governments as the area’s outstanding Public-Private Partnership and its Academy Park development in Lakewood has become the commercial hub of the southwest metropolitan area.

Despite his suburban orientation, Mr. Hamilton started to look downtown when appointed by Mayor Pena to help guide the master plan that led to Denver’s 1990’s downtown renaissance. In 1993 he convinced his friend Steve Holtze who had been a suburban hotelier to buy the former First National Bank of Denver Building as a historic renovation and hotel conversion. The new downtown hotel became an instant success and the Magnolia Hotel chain was born.

In 1996 Mr. Hamilton and Mr. Holtze ventured to Dallas to scout out opportunities and saw a downtown in decline but that they thought could turn around. They later bought two of Dallas’ most important historic landmarks, the Magnolia Building and the Davis Building each of which had been vacant for over a decade. Mr. Holtze’s company converted the 1922 Magnolia Building into a 330 room hotel, and Hamilton Properties converted the 1926 Davis Building into a 183 unit mixed use loft apartment project with ground floor retail.