Denver-based real estate developer Eric H. Bush, whose projects included self-storage, died Oct. 7 from a self-inflicted gunshot wound, according to the Arapahoe County, Colo., Coroner’s Office. Bush founded Bush Development Inc. in 1992 and specialized in building self-storage and small retail centers in the Denver area. He was 49.
Bush dropped out of college to pursue entrepreneurial interests, childhood friend Raven Wells told the source. After reportedly helping to turnaround a telecommunications company in 1991, Bush moved home to Colorado to pursue real estate. While building custom homes in the Denver area in the mid-1990s, he learned there were customers on waiting lists for self-storage units and decided to pursue development opportunities in the sector, Wells said.
Bush reportedly built one storage facility in Evergreen, Colo., for $480,000 and sold it a year and a half later for $1.65 million. In a 2007 interview with a local newspaper, he expressed his willingness to “build self-storage on the moon.”
Bush was also involved in developing a storage facility at 6150 Leetsdale Drive in Denver. The property once operated as United Storage and is now listed as part of the CubeSmart operating portfolio. In 2012, investor Daniel E. Young filed a lawsuit on behalf of himself and members of four limited-liability companies connected to Bush, including Leetsdale Self Storage LLC, accusing Bush of mismanagement.
Though Bush appears to have been successful with his early real estate projects, he ran into problems with financing during the Great Recession, according to friend and attorney Jeff Wittebort, who told the source he believes ongoing legal issues, financial trouble and a recent separation from his wife played a role in Bush’s suicide.
During pursuit of a development in Cherry Creek, Colo., in 2010, Bush launched a private-equity firm to raise money without bank financing. Though he raised capital from hedge funds and private investors, the terms of those deals were “far worse” than traditional loans, Wittebort told the source. Bush never developed the project and sold the Cherry Creek property in 2012 for about $16 million.
Bush filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy in March 2013 and May 2014, listing less than $50,000 in assets and liabilities between $1 million and $10 million. Another bankruptcy filed this year by the developer listed assets between $1 million and $10 million and financial liabilities in the same range, according to the source.
A December 2016 lawsuit filed by Nevada-based Crosscheck LLC, which invested in projects spearheaded by Bush and also loaned his companies “millions of dollars,” alleged Bush misappropriated funds “for his own personal use and gain,” the source reported.
In another lawsuit last year, Bush agreed to pay a $225,000 judgment to Shames Makovsky Realty for unpaid commission, but reportedly never followed through. Shames Makovsky sued Bush again in March, alleging the developer had transferred funds to avoid payment.
Wittebort knew Bush for more than 30 years and told the source he recently spoke to the entrepreneur about a new self-storage deal Bush was working on and that he seemed “optimistic he could dig his way out” of trouble.
Wells indicated Bush was generous while successful, sometimes giving real estate brokers an equity stake in a project on top of their commission. Wells also told the source he lost money as an investor in the Cherry Creek project. “By the time it was done, he was just crushed,” Wells said.
In addition to business, Bush also liked to ski, fish and target shoot, Wittebort said.
Sources:
- BusinessDen: Developer Who Foresaw Cherry Creek Luxury Boom Dead at 49
- Colorado Judicial Department: Daniel E. Young, et. al. vs. Erich Bush, et. al.
