DECEMBER 3-DECEMBER 16, 2014
by Jill Jamieson-Nichols
Denver has caught the eye
of an Austin, Texas, company,
and Solarium is its first asset.
CapRidge Partners pur-
chased the 171,189-square-
foot southeast suburban office
property from Lowe Enter-
prises Investors for $23.4
million, according to public
records. Significant improve-
ments to the property are
planned, as are additional
acquisitions in the Denver
market, according to Steve
LeBlanc, who managed $45
billion in private equity and
real estate for one of the
nation’s largest pension funds
before co-founding CapRidge
two years ago.
“We’re interested in Den-
ver,” said LeBlanc, formerly of
the Teachers Retirement Sys-
tem of Texas. Avalue investor,
CapRidge Partners invests in
new-economy growth mar-
kets that have highly edu-
cated workforce, quality of
life and compare favorably in
terms of cost of doing busi-
ness. “Denver fit those filters
very well,” LeBlanc said. The
company has two additional
assets under contract.
Solarium offers a great loca-
tion at the corner of Orchard
Road and Quebec Street in
Greenwood Village, plus, “It
has the opportunity to do
what we do best, which is
increase the quality of the
common areas, the restrooms,
and deliver premium custom-
er service,” said LeBlanc.
“We are known in all of our
markets as delivering the best
customer service in the indus-
try in office space,” he said.
New elevator cabs, show-
ers and lockers, lobby and
restroom renovations, and
improvements to the parking
garage, lighting and HVAC
are slated for the property,
which was built in 1982 and
last renovated in 2007.
Located at 7400 E. Orchard,
the building is defined by an
impressive atrium lobby, with
three- and four-story wings
on either side. Occupancy at
the time of the sale was in the
mid-80s, which gave the deal
a value-add aspect and stirred
“robust activity” on the part
of investors, according to
Mike Winn of CBRE.
“It had some vacancy, so it
was more of a value-add-type
deal. Those deals are hard to
find these days,” said Winn,
who handled the sale with
Jim Johnson, Jim Johnson Photography
CapRidge Partners plans significant capital improvements at Solarium.
by John Rebchook
Whole Foods’ announce-
ment that it will open a
store in downtown Denver
is huge – literally and figu-
ratively.
The flagship, 56,000-
square-foot Whole Foods
Market Union Station store,
the retail anchor in the luxu-
ry, 640-unit 17W apartment
community to be built at
17th and Wewatta streets,
will be one of the biggest
Whole Foods in the metro
area when it opens in 2017.
In fact, it will be as big as,
if not slightly bigger than,
any Whole Foods in the
metro area.
It is about the same size
as the Whole Foods in Bel-
mar in Lakewood and along
Hampden Avenue in Den-
ver, each of which has about
55,000 sf of space.
It will be about 10,000 sf
larger than the one in Cher-
ry Creek.
Whole Foods also is land-
ing in the largest apartment
community under construc-
tion or on the drawing
board in Denver. Vancouver,
Washington-based Holland
Partner is developing 17W.
“Nothing else is on the
radar screen that even comes
close to approaching it in
size,” said Terrance Hunt,
an apartment broker with
ARA.
The missing ingredient for
years in downtown has been
a full-service grocery store,
Hunt and others agree.
“Now, we are getting
two with the Whole Foods
and the King Soopers that
is under construction just
a couple of blocks away,”
Hunt said.
“That is great for consum-
ers, who will have more
choices, great for the city
and great for that Union Sta-
tion neighborhood,” Hunt
said.
Landing a downtown
grocer, especially a Whole
Foods, has long been on the
radar screen of city leaders.
Tami Door, president and
CEO of the Downtown Den-
ver Partnership, said the
city has been waiting for a
Whole Foods to commit to
downtown for years.
Whole Foods is coming to the 17W luxury apartment community by Union Station.
CONTENTS
Holland Partner Group will take
luxury apartments in the suburbs to a
new level with MileHouse
Ivanhoé Cambridge acquires a 40
percent interest in the Tabor Center,
Two Tabor site and U.S. Bank
Tower in downtown Denver
new owner will be able to
offer a big block of office space
as Travelport moves along
A transit-oriented apartment
community that sold for $60 million
two years ago trades at $77 million
Inside
