Evan Gart named new president of Gart Properties, looks to expand operations outside Colorado

There s a new man at the helm of Gart Properties Evan Gart has been promoted to president of the Denver-based company which owns properties around Colorado The -year-old takes over the top job from Mark Sidell who has been named vice chairman of the company s board Sidell stepped into the president role in just a handful of years after Gart Properties was founded The Gart name has been known throughout Colorado for decades Evan s great-grandfather Nathan Gart whose signature is now the company s logo opened a pawn shop in downtown Denver in It evolved over the years and generations into a chain of Gart Bros Sporting Goods stores including the signature store in a building known as the Sports Castle at th Avenue and Broadway The family sold its stake in the chain in and former Gart Properties that same year A decade later the Gart Bros chain became part of Sports Authority which went out of business in Evan Gart joined Gart Properties nine years ago starting as an analyst when the company moved into a fund model I ve been running the day-to-day for about two years now he revealed while Sidell focused on the big picture Working for the family business was never an expectation five of the seven members of Evan s generation don t and there were two rules for those who did want to join he mentioned They had to work somewhere else first And there had to be a position that suited them Evan s cousin Alex Gart for instance runs Gart Capital Partners the family s private equity firm Its holdings include brick-and-mortar workwear stores along the West Coast that operate as Work World and Shoeteria Gart Properties will soon sell its largest part prominent local holding downtown s struggling Denver Pavilions mall Denver s Downtown Advancement Authority expects to close on its million purchase of the mall this month Gart also owns the Village Shopping Center in Boulder which is anchored by McGuckin Hardware and real estate around the Powderhorn ski area near Grand Junction Retail properties have reliably been the focus of the company s portfolio with million square feet even after the Pavilions sale goes through Less than of Gart retail space is vacant Evan Gart commented There s really meager landlords who know at scale what it is to be a tenant he noted In addition to Gart Bros Sporting Goods the Gart family also founded the Specialty Sports Venture chain in the s which joined forces with Vail Resorts later that decade The ski resort operator bought out the Gart stake in While all of Gart Properties holdings are in Colorado Evan Gart doesn t expect that to remain the episode The primary focus will constantly be our own backyard in Colorado but it s become extremely competitive he declared Related Articles LoDo nightclub closes as Monfort scales back third project on block Affordable housing developer in final stages of converting former Johnson Wales dorms into apartments Long-dormant site of former Denny s on West Alameda to become home to new Mexican restaurant LoDo landlords look to sweeten downtown with Museum of Ice Cream Ballpark architecture firm decamping to Santa Fe Drive Kansas City and Omaha are of interest he commented as is Arizona This isn t the first time the company has talked of out-of-state expansion In-state Gart Properties is also looking to expand its portfolio of tiny homes at Powderhorn While they re all rentals now new ones could be for sale something of a starter home for second homes he commented My intent is institutionalizing and growing the business Evan Gart explained Gart s headquarters are at St Paul St in Cherry Creek The company bought the -story building once poised to be home to an Equinox gym in Read more from our partner BusinessDen Get more business news by signing up for our Financial market Now newsletter