In the News: First-time developer planning Colfax apartments buys land for $1M

At age 75, Billy Piranian is kicking off his development career with a $1.2 million real estate buy.

“There’s so much more work in prepping this thing with the plans than I thought,” he said.

At the end of last month, Piranian paid $85 a square foot for 3800 W. Colfax Ave., a third-of-an-acre lot three blocks south of Sloan’s Lake. A vacant restaurant building on the site will be demolished later this summer, he said, and then he’ll build a three-story, 38-unit apartment building. 

It will be the first development he’s done entirely on his own. Piranian bought the property from the real estate arm of the Jehovah’s Witnesses, which appears to have been given the property in 2021.

The building will hold mostly studio apartments with six one-bedroom units. The third-floor spaces will all be loft style. Each room will come with a steam shower. A community patio on the third floor will bring the whole project together. 

The price tag: $6 million. Piranian, a career framer who owns his own business, will be doing a lot of the work himself. He’s also bringing a retired general contractor and friend in on the project. That will help keep costs low. 

Bryce McNeely of Blue West Capital represented Piranian in the real estate deal. 

Piranian hopes to complete the project by the fall of 2026 but said that depends on city permitting. When finished, the building will have somewhat of an earthy appearance, with brown and green hues on the outside. He’s investing in some higher end finishes, like “ship ladder” stairs in the loft units and patios for the one-bedroom units on the second floor. 

“If this thing comes out good, we can sell it and then snowball it and get a bigger project and just keep doing it,” Piranian said.

As featured in Business Den:
DEAL TEAM
Bryce McNeely