by John Rebchook
The Richardson family of
Greeley recently paid $77
million for a transit-oriented
apartment community along
a light-rail line in Littleton.
The family, which made
its fortune in the energy
business, bought the 350-
unit 5151 Downtown Little-
ton building at 5151 S. Rio
Grande St.
The seller was CBRE Glob-
al Investors of Boston, which
paid$60million in2012 to the
developer, Trammell Crow
Residential.
That represents a 28.3 per-
cent return on the sale price
in two years.
The sale price equates to
$220,000 per unit and $230.60
per square foot for the
333,913-sf building.
The property was listed
by the Denver CBRE team
of David Potarf, Dan Wood-
ward andMatt Barnett.
Separately, the CBRE Den-
ver team also sold another
property on behalf of CBRE
Global Investors for $71 mil-
lion, bringing the total for the
two deals to $148 million.
The 5151DowntownLittle-
ton apartments would have
attracted a lot of potential
buyers, given its location, the
quality of construction and
the strong demographics of
the Littleton market, accord-
ing to Potarf.
“But it was an off-market
transaction,” Potarf said.
The Richardson family had
sold a large land holding and
was looking to make a 1031
exchange, he said.
The Littleton community
had previously been listed by
another brokerage firm, but
did not sell.
Potarf, however, thought it
wouldmake a great purchase
for the Richardson family.
“Being local, they really
understand how the traffic
works in the Denver area,
and how important it is to be
along light rail,” Potarf said.
“Projects along light rail are
going to outperform other
properties for who knows
how long. Probably forever.”
The property was built in
2009.
“Trammell Crow (Residen-
tial) is a great builder and did
a great job,” Potarf said.
“It’s really a great prop-
erty.”
The sale represents the first
purchase of an apartment
community in the Denver
area by the Richardson fam-
ily, he said.
In another large deal by
CBRE Global Investors,
Potarf’s team also recently
by Jill Jamieson-Nichols
ADallas company has acquired
the Travelport building in Cen-
tennial, soon to become one of
the few large blocks of available
office space in the southeast sub-
urban submarket.
With Travelport relocating to
Panorama Corporate Center in
March, buyer Encore Office will
have 136,954
square feet –
with a park-
ing ratio of
5.7:1,000 – to
lease at 6901 S.
Havana St. in
Centennial.
“It’s become
a very high
d e m a n d
type of space
requirement in the marketplace,”
said Riki Hashimoto of New-
mark Grubb Knight Frank. “We
had significant activity on the
building, I think because of the
uniqueness of having a large,
130,000-square-foot block that is
a true value-add play.”
Encore Office, in a joint ven-
ture with Middleton Partners,
bought the building from Divi-
dend Capital for $9.1 million. It
is Encore’s first acquisition in
the Denver market.
“We like Denver as a market.
It’s a dynamic market with good
employment growth,” said com-
pany President Mark Cypert.
“We like the building, the loca-
by Jennifer Hayes
By third grade, Tom List,
managing partner at Moye
White LLP, had it all figured
out.
He was going to be a judge.
Or so he wrote in a school
essay.
And while he dabbled with
the idea of being a doctor,
like his father, a trip in high
school by the premed club to
a hospital and his subsequent
fainting on tour pushed aside
further thoughts of a career in
medicine.
Agood decision, judging
by List’s more than 27 years in
the industry, in which he aver-
ages negotiation of nearly 250
lease transactions annually.
Amember of the law firm’s
real estate section, he also has
extensive experience in devel-
opment, land use and zoning,
sales and acquisitions, leasing,
eviction, workouts, bankrupt-
cy and financing for a variety
of clients, including develop-
ers, real estate investment
trusts, property management
companies, property owners,
and condominium and owner
associations.
“I like to work and I
love deals,” said List. “Be
it a 1,000-square-foot or
100,000-square-foot deal, the
size, it’s meaningless. It is just
a number. No matter the size, I
give it the same effort, thought
and consideration.”
It is being able to bring
two parties together – whose
mutual interest is getting the
deal done – that thrills List.
“I love when I have a heav-
ily negotiated document, both
sides have a vested interest,
and it’s my job and co-coun-
sel’s to get the deal done and
bring their mutual interest
together,” said List, noting this
also is the most difficult aspect
of his job.
His core values of honesty,
candor and a sense of service,
List believes, aid him in bring-
ing both sides of the table to a
successful deal.
“I always tell my colleagues
that I’m not the best real estate
attorney in town,” List admits.
“But what sets us apart is
our services, our can do, will
do attitude. I tell my clients I
am available 24 hours. Every
client is the most important
client.
“The best part of my prac-
tice, my career, is the relation-
ships I’ve made,” continued
List. “Yes, they are clients. But
they are also friends, really
good friends. And the biggest
reward, the best compliment I
receive, is when in a social or
business situation an existing
client refers me to a potential
client.
“The key to my success is
my clients know what they
are going to get fromme and
I meet, beat expectations,” he
added.
The Colorado native gradu-
ated from Cherry Creek High
School and attended the Uni-
versity of Oregon before trans-
ferring and graduating from
the University of Colorado
Boulder. He earned his Juris
Doctor from CU before start-
ing out in a career in litigation.
“Aweek into my first job
after law school, I was in trial.
I realized I was not a litigator, I
preferred deals.”
That decision, coupled with
a NAIOP lunch, cemented in
List a desire to focus on real
estate.
However, it wasn’t without
temptation. After termination
from one firm, he came to a
crossroads in his career – law
or brokerage.
List laughs when think-
ing about “what might have
been” had he accepted the
brokerage position with Mike
Winn and Tim Richey on their
team at Grubb & Ellis years
ago.
“I decided, though, I wasn’t
ready to abandon law,” said
List, who joined Hall & Evans
LLC in 1995 before forming
his own firm, Franke Green-
house List & Lippitt LLP, in
2001. Three years ago, he left
his own firm to join Moye
White, where his former firm
merged last year.
As managing partner at
Moye White, List admits he is
“kinda the boss” but still prac-
tices, and plans to for many
years to come, as he relishes
the transactions and people in
the industry. The opportunity
to lead Moye White also has
allowed him to give a fresh
voice and inject new energy
into the firm, he added.
Over his career, List hasn’t
had one single mentor, but
rather tries to learn from all
walks of life and be a role
model. But he has great
respect for John Moye and Ted
White and the partners at his
former firm.
List’s love of learning has
included once more harboring
thoughts of med school, as
he’s over his queasiness.
“I’d love to go to school. It
would be fun to go back to
college. That being said, I love
to work and will work anoth-
er 20 years,” he added.
Outside the office, List is
an avid golfer and enjoys
traveling, his pets, hiking,
paddle tennis and spending
time with his wife, Amy. They
have three college-aged kids,
son Sam and twin daughters
Olivia and Nellie.
s
Tom List
SECTION AA
DECEMBER 3-DECEMBER 16, 2014
Dallas-based Encore Office LLC bought the Travelport building in Centennial.
Mark Cypert
