Boulder’s Best Building Wasn’t for Sale

That afternoon I was standing on the patio between Hapa Sushi and bartaco, looking down through a glass sidewalk. I had heard about the venue underneath Pearl West, about 13,000 square feet built with room for four theater rooms that were never built out.

I looked up, admiring the classy design of Pearl West. I looked at Pathstone’s fourth floor offices and patio. Eric Kramer launched Crestone, which is now part of Pathstone, soon after he graduated from CU Boulder and became the wealth manager for many of Boulder’s tech and business families. Through Crestone, Kramer helped fund the development of Pearl West. At the time, I was a client of Crestone and, through Kramer, was a participant in the group that funded Pearl West.

Corrida is what you’d see if you were looking south from Pathstone’s office. Corrida is Bryan Dayton’s signature restaurant — a Spanish steakhouse that has a majestic view of the Flatirons. Like Crestone, Corrida was an anchor tenant of Pearl West. I was part of the investor group that backed Bryan as he launched Corrida.

Galvanize was also an anchor tenant for Pearl West and I was one of its early financial sponsors. Galvanize was a pioneer in creating coworking tech hubs. It was known for creative programming that catered to the tech ecosystem and for its coding school. I heard rumblings that Pearl West was about to lose Galvanize and this loss would mean that the occupancy of Pearl West would drop below 50%.

As I stood on the patio, I thought about the boost Boulder’s tech and creative ecosystem was craving. Tulagi — the music fest that we launched — was only three months away. The Sundance Film Festival was arriving in Boulder in early 2027.

I pondered, “If I owned Pearl West, what would I do to make it an asset that would benefit the entire Boulder community?”

Pearl West was not for sale. Yet, I thought, “Maybe, just maybe, the owners might be ready to sell.”

Soon thereafter, I lobbed in an offer to buy Pearl West.

This is the first issue of Introducing The Chill House at Pearl West, a newsletter series that will run over the next few weeks. Next: The History of Pearl West.