Two local real estate investment entities – Aecom Capital of Century City and Santa Monica-based private equity firm Mass Equities Inc. – have formed a partnership to finance and develop a mixed-use project in Denver’s art district, the companies announced March 22.

Mass Equities Inc. acquired the 7.8-acre site in Denver’s River North Art District last year for $38 million, according to the Denver Business Journal. It has proposed a $200 million project that would repurpose a 64,000-square foot existing building as creative office space and build 522,000 square feet of new construction, including creative office space, a 480-unit apartment complex and 33,000 square feet of retail space.

This month, Aecom Capital, the new investment arm of Century City-based engineering and construction giant Aecom, joined the project as an investor. Aecom’s Hunt construction unit will also serve as construction manager on the project, in partnership with Denver-based Martines Palmeiro Construction.

“We are excited to bring a full suite of services to bear on this project, leveraging both Aecom’s established construction expertise and Aecom Capital’s design and development experience,” Michael Burke, Aecom’s chief executive officer, said in a statement. “We look forward to partnering with (Mass Equities) to bring its incredible vision to life in RiNo.”

Aecom’s involvement was welcomed by Mass Equities.

“We are pleased that Aecom Capital has joined us on this exciting project, demonstrating the significance of this development and the importance of RiNo in the overall Denver community,” Mass Equities founder Andrew Sobel said in a statement. “We look forward to a collaboration that will benefit from Aecom’s depth of knowledge, experience and global network of experts, to augment and inspire the outstanding (Mass Equities) team to accomplish a new kind of mixed-use development that will resonate in tune with RiNo’s dynamism,” he added.

Economy, education, energy and transportation reporter Howard Fine can be reached at [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter @howardafine.