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Sonia Danielsen

Bindery on Blake
Property Owner & Developer
Denver, CO
Sonia Danielsen is a longtime Denver resident, successful business owner and real estatedeveloper in the River North District (RiNo). Her thoughtful approach to developmentrespects the history of a place while also recognizing the changing needs of today’stenants. Together with her husband Barry, Sonia owns and operates real estateinvestment company Danielsen Investments, LLC, which specializes in commercial andresidential properties in the RiNo area, including Bindery on Blake.Bindery on Blake is comprised of the structures at 2901 Blake and 2875 Blake as well asthe 106,000 square feet of land the building sits on. The property has been in Sonia’sfamily for nearly 40 years. Sonia’s father, Noah Siegel, bought the building and landsurrounding 2901 Blake St. in 1976 to house Eastwood Printing, which had been hisfamily’s business since 1947. Sonia joined Eastwood Printing in 1983. She worked herway up to managing operations for company before purchasing it in 1992. She thenpurchased the building and the surrounding land, which she used to build a newwarehouse (2875 Blake St.) to house the company’s bindery equipment. Under Sonia’sleadership, Eastwood Printing grew from $5 million in sales to more than $10 million anddoubled in staff. In 2004, Sonia sold the printing business.In 2006, Sonia developed Rail Yard Lofts, an award-winning authentic loft project thatconverted a 45,000 sq. ft. RiNo warehouse into 29 loft units. Sonia and Barry Danielsenswent on to manage various family-owned real estate projects, including four commercialbuildings on Larimer Street and six loft units – all located in the RiNo neighborhood.In 2014, the buildings at 2901 Blake St. and 2875 Blake St. became vacant at the sametime. Sonia received several offers to sell the property, as the RiNo area wasexperiencing a renaissance, but everyone wanted to tear down the buildings anddevelop new. Sonia and Barry saw the potential as well as the rich history in the spaces,and decided to keep the buildings and renovate them for a new generation of tenants.They started renovations in 2014 and the buildings became known as Bindery on Blake.The Bindery on Blake is home to 7 creative businesses.The Danielsen’s believe that working artists are important to the fabric of RiNo. As theneighborhood has evolved, studio space has become unaffordable for artists. They arepersonally underwriting The Studios on Blake, 14 affordable studios.In January of 2017, Sonia founded DRiNk RiNo, a collective of Independent Craft AdultBeverage Producers in the RiNo neighborhood. She brought the group together tocollaborate on sponsorships, events, marketing and products.In addition to her work in real estate development, Sonia is a passionate advocate for theRiNo neighborhood. She currently serves as the secretary for the RiNo BusinessImprovement District (BID) Board of Directors, which works to strategically manage growthand change in the area and help RiNo retain its vibrant, creative core. She serves on theRiNo Art District Board and is currently Past Chairman for the Rocky Mountain Chapter ofYPO Gold. Sonia received a Bachelor of Science in Printing Systems Management fromthe Rochester Institute of Technology.