Hover Building - Gates Family Foundation
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HOVER BUILDING

Gates staff and partners meet at Hover Building In 2013, the Gates Family Foundation moved into the historic Hover Building located at 1390 Lawrence Street in downtown Denver.  The building itself is both a Denver Landmark and listed on the National Register of Historic Places — but inside it’s a vibrant, ever-changing space with modern conference rooms, reception spaces, a full kitchen, and a rooftop deck that are well-utilized by Gates and our community partners. The Foundation’s fourth and third floor offices are inhabited by the 12 members of the Gates staff, and on the second floor a collaborative of public education organizations shares space known as the edXchange.

 

History

The Hover Building was completed in 1901 to serve as the offices and warehouse of W. A. Hover’s wholesale pharmaceutical business. It was built on lots that were previously part of the home of John Evans, second Territorial Governor of Colorado.

The building is a steel and timber frame structure with a brick façade designed by Robert S. Roeschlaub, one of the premier architects of his time in Colorado, and completed in 1901 to serve as the offices and warehouse of W. A. Hover’s wholesale pharmaceutical business. It was built on lots that were previously part of the home of John Evans, second Territorial Governor of Colorado.

Hover BuildingRoeschlaub — who was President of the American Institute of Architects – Colorado from 1892 to 1912 and was made a Fellow of the national American Institute of Architects in 1900 — designed many landmark buildings during the course of his career, including Trinity United Methodist Church, the Central City Opera, and the Chamberlin Observatory at the University of Denver. Roeschlaub was also the premier architect of many Denver Public Schools facilities, and is responsible for the design of Dora Moore, Wyatt, and Emerson schools, among others. The Hover Building is one of only two commercial buildings Roeschlaub designed that are still in existence.

The Hover Building remained connected to its original office/warehouse use through the 1950s. Later, it was owned by the University of Colorado at Denver. It served as a library and home to the School of Architecture and Planning. During this time the building was known as the Charles D. Bromley Building.  More recently the building has been the home of design firms and other commercial tenants.

Today Market Street Management, a Denver-based property management company, provides asset and property management services for the Hover Building.  St. Charles Town Company, a local real estate development company with a long history of involvement in historic preservation and with adaptive reuse of historic buildings, assisted with Gates’ purchase and renovation of the Hover Building.

The Gates Family Foundation offices on the third and fourth floors of the building were designed by Semple Brown Design and constructed by Sprung Construction, both of Denver. Nine Dot Arts assisted with the sourcing and selection of art for the space. The U.S. Green Building Council has certified the Foundation offices as meeting the LEED Gold standard.