Huge Robinson Dairy site in Denver’s Sun Valley neighborhood to be sold, could eventually become brewery or distillery

The buyer plans to keep the Robinson Dairy site the same, but the property would be good for a brewery or distillery.
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Robinson Dairy, Sun Valley. Feb. 12, 2018. (Kevin J. Beaty/Denverite) denver; colorado; denverite; kevinjbeaty; sun valley;

Robinson Dairy, Sun Valley. Feb. 12, 2018. (Kevin J. Beaty/Denverite)

The Robinson Dairy is set to change hands this spring, nearly five years after operations ended at the site in Denver's Sun Valley neighborhood.

Central Development is under contract to buy the property, northwest of the South Platte River and Sixth Avenue. No immediate changes are in store, said Jeremy Records, principal at the Denver real estate firm.

"Honestly, we don't have anything planned," Records said. "It's kind of a complicated deal. There are people occupying all the buildings we are buying except for one little 2,700-square-foot building, so our goal is to keep it simple."

"If they want to stay and we can work out a rate structure, that's great," he said. "If that doesn't work out, I guess our pie in the sky would be — we think it would be an absolutely perfect location for a brewery or distillery."

The Robinson Dairy site includes a food processor in the dairy plant, a bulk storage group in the warehouse and a landscape group in the office building on site. A fourth building is vacant, according to Central Development.

The property is leased to Dean Foods for at least another year and a half. The Dallas-based dairy manufacturing company is subleasing the property to the other companies, according to Robinson Management.

Robinson Dairy, Sun Valley. Feb. 12, 2018. (Kevin J. Beaty/Denverite)

Robinson Dairy stopped operations at the site in 2013 after nearly 130 years in business. The dairy's parent company, Dean Foods, shifted production to a larger Meadow Gold Dairy facility in Englewood.

City records show 6.85 acres across eight parcels are registered to the Robinson Management office in Denver.

"We're selling it all," Richard Robinson said Tuesday. "We were there since 1975, my brother and myself. It's bittersweet, but it's time."

The sale is set to close in April. The price was not disclosed.

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Business & data reporter Adrian D. Garcia can be reached via email at [email protected] or twitter.com/adriandgarcia.

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