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Page 10 — COLORADO REAL ESTATE JOURNAL — January 21-February 3, 2015
Boulder County & U.S. 36 Corridor
by Jill Jamieson-Nichols
A high-visibility office build-
ing along a key corridor in Boul-
der sold to a local investor who
plans to take it to the next level.
Doctus Partners LLC, an
investment group led by Scott
Pudalov of Boulder, acquired
the Premier Members Federal
Credit Union building at Arap-
ahoe Avenue and 55th Street.
The credit union sold the build-
ing and will remain in approxi-
mately a third of the space for
the foreseeable future, said
Pudalov, who plans an exten-
sive capital investment in the
property.
“We’re going to make it a first-
class office building,” he said.
The 60,000-square-foot struc-
ture at 5495 Arapahoe Ave. was
purchased for “roughly $100 a
square foot” and will be rede-
veloped in an environmentally
conscious manner, Pudalov
said. Improvements will include
a second lobby, and technology
and other upgrades.
The building sits along the
East Arapahoe Avenue corridor,
a mile-long stretch of Arapahoe
that is the subject of a com-
munity planning effort. Various
scenarios are being discussed,
ranging from maintaining the
corridor’s mostly industrial
nature to creating office, arts
and entertainment districts to
promoting affordable housing
and retail development.
Located a half-mile from the
new Foothills Hospital campus,
the Premier Members Federal
Credit Union building is zoned
for a variety of uses, including
office and medical office, said
Pudalov.
There currently is about 40,000
sf of “wide-open, high-ceiling
space” on the first and second
floors.
“The interest in the space has
been astonishing,” said Pudalov,
adding the investment group is
hoping for one or two tenants to
fill the building.
The asset is the 11th building
that Pudalov has acquired in the
Denver area. His holdings include
North Point Business Park in
Northglenn, which he said has
been appraised at twice the price
the paid for it in late 2013.
FirstBank provided financing
for the acquisition of 5495 Arapa-
hoe. Pudalov has worked with
the bank before and brought it in
during the preliminary stages of
the deal. “They were willing to
take the time and effort to look at
the property even when we were
looking at it in a very preliminary
way,” he said. “Between First-
Bank and my partners, I had a
team assembled that was a huge
assistance to me.”
Pudalov said he and his inves-
tors are interested in acquiring
additional assets.
“I really enjoy Colorado and
Boulder. I as well as my invest-
ment group are actively look-
ing for additional transactions
in the value-add category,” he
said.s
CoStar Group
The new owners of the Premier Members Federal Credit Union building
plan extensive improvements.
by Jill Jamieson-Nichols
A Boulder County housing
provider recently purchased
the Kimbark Apartments in
Longmont for $3.4 million.
The Kimbark Apartments
is a 48-unit property that is
income-restricted for the next
24 years. Thistle Communities
purchased the property at 1200
Kimbark St. from Kimbark
1200 LLC.
Sean Hamilton of Hamilton
Realty Advisors LLC, who
represented
the seller
with Hamil-
ton Realty’s
Tim Bennett,
said rents are
around $900
to $950 for
t h r e e - b e d -
room units,
c o m p a r e d
with market
rents of $1,200 to $1,300.
Thistle Communities plans to
do a light rehabilitation of the
property, which consists most-
ly of three-bedroom, 1½-bath
apartments along with a few
two-bedroom units.
“We were really only mar-
keting it for about six to eight
weeks, and we probably had
75 or 80 interested buyers,”
said Hamilton, who added that
Thistle stepped up with a full-
price offer.
“The market is very strong
right now. There just isn’t a lot
of product out there,” he said,
noting buyers who previously
wouldn’t consider properties
under 100 units are willing to
do so, especially out-of-state
buyers familiar with the Boul-
der County market.
The apartments were con-
structed in 1995 using Low-
Income Housing Tax Credits.
The price Thistle Communi-
ties paid equates to $70,833 per
unit, or $69.19 per square foot.
The property sold at a 5.9 per-
cent cap rate.
Thistle Communities is a
private, nonprofit real estate
company that develops and
preserves affordable and mar-
ket-rate housing in Boulder
County.s Thistle Communities bought the Kimbark Apartments in Longmont.
Sean Hamilton