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COLORADO REAL ESTATE JOURNAL
— November 5-November 18, 2014
Multifamily
by John Rebchook
Bobby Smith and Jeff Jones
have a long history of developing
luxury apartment communities.
Before they founded Smith/
Jones Partners, they were execu-
tives with another Denver-based
company, Archstone Commu-
nities, which earned a national
reputation for developing luxury
apartment communities across
the country before the real estate
crash.
Given their experience, they
knew they had a winner when
they decided to develop an apart-
ment community in the Arista
mixed-use neighborhood in
Broomfield during the down-
turn.
It paid off.
They recently sold the 272-unit
Arista Place, now called Arista
Uptown, to M&C Properties of
Salt Lake for $52.5 million.
That equates to $193,015 per
unit, or $216.81 per square foot,
for the community at 8500 Arista
Place in Broomfield.
Smith/Jones Partners opened
Arista Place in 2012, after buying
the 6.7-acre site during the real
estate downturn.
“We liked that itwas in a pedes-
trian-oriented, New Urbanism,
master-planned community,”
Smith said.
He said the landscaping, shops
and parks are very well inte-
grated, creating an urban-style
environment in the suburbs.
“You have that 1st Bank Center
anchoring Arista at one edge and
you are close to the slip lane lead-
ing to U.S. 36,” Smith said.
“It has close proximity to all of
the high-tech employment cen-
ters along the U.S. 36 corridor, as
well as kind of being equidistant
between Boulder and Denver,”
Smith said.
Their timing was good.
“We were one of the first in the
ground during this part of the
cycle,” Smith said
He wasn’t surprised it com-
manded such a high price when
it sold.
“We always had high expecta-
tions for it,” Smith said.
“Themarket reception toArista
Place was excellent,” he said
“We exceeded our leasing
expectations and our expecta-
tions for monthly rents,” he said.
The property was listed by the
ARA team of Jeff Hawks, Doug
Andrews, Terrance Hunt and
Shane Ozment.
Hawks said M&C Properties is
aggressively shopping for apart-
ment communities in the Denver
area andArista Uptown is its sec-
ond purchase in the metro area.
Prospective buyers appreciated
not only the location, but also
the quality of the community, he
said.
Amenities include a very nice
clubhouse and exercise room,
a heated swimming pool, com-
puter room, 9-foot-plus ceilings,
high-end appliances and plenty
of storage space, Hawks said.
“Bobby Smith and Jeff Jones
really learned how to develop
high-end properties when they
were at Archstone,” Hawks said.
“They build a really good prod-
uct,” he said.
“This is just an amazing com-
munity.”
They received about 15 offers
for the property, he said.
“There was a lot of interest in it,
including both institutional buy-
ers and private groups,” Hawks
said.
He agreed with Smith’s assess-
ment of the location.
“It was the location that real-
ly turned on buyers the most,”
Hawks said.
“Interlocken, with all of its
high-tech companies, is right
there, plus you have really quick
access to the Boulder Turnpike,”
Hawks said.
The U.S. 36 corridor was one of
the hottest submarkets as far as
leasing activity, he said.
“That whole Boulder corridor
was really on fire this summer,”
Hawks said.
“It was seeing huge absorption,
with between 150 and 200 units
in new buildings being leased
each month,” he said.
Communities like Broomfield
provides a great alternative for
those who are priced out of Boul-
der, he said.
“Rents aren’t as high in Broom-
field as Boulder; at the same time,
people love the fact that you have
great access to both Boulder and
downtownDenver,”Hawks said.
Smith also was right on the
money as far as the appeal of
Arista, according to Hawks.
“Arista is kind of cool with its
shops and retail, and of course,
the 1st Bank Center.” he said.
Smith and Jones also were
smart to move forward on the
community when the market
was still soft, he said.
“I would say one of the advan-
tages they had was they had the
foresight to come into the market
early and they were able to build
it before construction and labor
costs went through the roof,”
Hawks said.
“They broke ground two or
three years before most of their
competitors,” Hawks said.
“It has cost at least 10 percent
or 15 percent more to build each
year since they started construc-
tion,” Hawks said.
“At the same time, rents have
also gone up even more since
they first put the pencil to this
deal,” Hawks said.
Other News
n
Jackson Square Proper-
ties
paid $26.25 million for the
230-unit Rockledge Bear Valley
apartment community at 3550 S.
Kendall St. in southwest Denver,
on the border of Lakewood and
Jefferson County.
Partially renovated between
2012 and 2014, the 96 percent-
leasedproperty includes 10 three-
story buildings with one- and
two-bedroom units each averag-
ing 808 square feet.
Community amenities include
a resort-style swimming pool,
bocce ball court, outdoor grill-
ing areas, state-of-the-art fitness
center, dog park and clubhouse.
HFF
marketed the property on
behalf of the seller, a joint ven-
ture between
ColRich Multifam-
ily
and
Harbert Management
Corp.
The HFF team representing the
seller was led by director
Jordan
CoStar
Arista Place, now Arista Uptown, recently sold.
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