Transwestern Real Estate Services (TRS), KBS, one of the largest investors in commercial real estate, and Haynes Mechanical Systems, Inc. announce the successful replacement of cooling systems at Granite Tower, a 31-story, 593,527-square-foot Class A office property at 1099 18^th Street in Denver. The project, summarized in this short video, was completed on behalf of KBS and the Block 95 Condominium Association that services a full city block. Granite Tower is owned by KBS Real Estate Investment Trust II.

“We are proud to have successfully completed this complex infrastructure upgrade for KBS,” said Randy Adrian, Director of Engineering at Transwestern. “Granite Tower’s prominence in the city of Denver is due to ownership’s demonstrated commitment to operational efficiencies, market-leading amenities and occupant comfort.”

“As a hands-on manager, KBS is diligent about updating the building systems at our properties,” says Tim Helgeson, asset manager for Granite Tower and senior vice president of KBS. “Our deep expertise in asset management enabled us to help complete this highly complex project at Granite Tower successfully and in concert with local and federal officials.”

The team embarked on this highly technical project to update aging essential equipment located on the roof of Granite Tower, one of the most iconic office properties in the Downtown Denver market. The 40-year-old cooling towers and fluid coolers were well past their life expectancy of 20 years. The three-cell cooling tower serves the entire block’s 1900-ton cooling needs. The fluid coolers support critical operation rooms , IT closets, and 24/7 data centers within the Granite Tower building. Because a lift of this capacity had never been performed in downtown Denver, the team worked closely with the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and the Denver Police Department (DPD)  to establish protocol.

“During the replacement, the safety of all parties was our top priority,” said Jerry Hegge, Project Sales at Haynes Mechanical. “Haynes and Transwestern worked side by side throughout planning and execution of this project to ensure a successful outcome.”

As planned, a helicopter spent 75 minutes in flight removing and replacing approximately 100,000 pounds of equipment, including three cooling tower cells and two new fluid coolers. The project also included installation of a new variable frequency drives, new valving, and an upgrade to the building automation system (BAS).

“The 30-year relationship we’ve shared with Transwestern made us confident in the planning, prep work and execution of this monumental upgrade,” said Terry Koenig, Vice President at Haynes Mechanical. “We cannot express enough our gratitude for this strong partnership as well as for what all our associates do daily to make our team so successful.”

In total, 87 participants were on-site the day of the replacement, and countless others were involved throughout the process, including representatives from KBS, Haynes Mechanical, Transwestern, FAA, Denver Police Department, City and County of Denver, Erickson Skycrane, Jeff’s Welding, MC2 Electric, and Winslow Crane Service.