CREJ - Journal

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by Jill Jamieson-Nichols
A group affiliated with
UDR Corp. bought the com-
pany’s headquarters building
in Highlands Ranch Busi-
ness Park for $24.06 million,
according to public records.
Highlands Ranch Shea
Center LLC sold the
119,841-square-foot building
at 1745 Shea Center Drive
to 1745 LLC for $201 per sf.
(See photo on Page 2AA) The
buyer is affiliated with UDR
Inc., a multifamily real estate
investment trust that occu-
pies approximately 50,000 sf
in the building.
Shea Properties devel-
oped the four-story, Class A
building in 1999. It features a
sandstone exterior, “elegant”
lobby and “spectacular”
mountain views, according to
Shea’s website. It’s also close
to retail, dining and High-
lands Ranch Golf Club.
Neither Shea nor the buyer
could be reached for com-
ment on the transaction.
UDR is an S&P 400 com-
pany.
Other News
n With all eyes on the oil
and gas industry, it’s still hard
to say how the Denver office
market may be affected, but
other industry sectors should
soften the impact, according
to a recent Savills Studley
report.
“Oil and gas is off right
now, but it’s too early to tell if
this is just a blip that will cor-
rect itself
or if we
are on the
cusp of
a down-
turn like
2 0 0 8 , ”
Rob Link,
S a v i l l s
Studl ey
e x e c u -
tive vice
president, said in discussing
the company’s fourth-quarter
report on the Denver office
market.
“Strength among health
care, tech and professional
service companies should off-
set some of the pullback in
the oil and gas sector,” said
Executive Vice President Jim
McGrath.
The suburbs are less reli-
ant than the central business
district on the energy sector.
The southeast suburban sub-
market registered moder-
ate rental rate growth in the
fourthquarter of last year and
is poised for the first specu-
lative construction in several
years, Savills Studley noted.
Overall availability in the
by John Rebchook
A San Francisco-based compa-
ny, long bullish on the Denver-
area apartment market, recently
added to its local portfolio with a
$65.5 million acquisition.
Jackson Square Properties
acquired the 298-unit M2 apart-
ment community in southwest
Denver.
The sales price equates to
$219,799 per unit
The seller was the developer,
Stoneleigh Cos. of Barrington,
I l l i n o i s .
S t o n e l e i g h
opened the
community at
4560 S. Balsam
Way in 2013.
“This is a
cool prop-
erty,” said
David Potarf
of CBRE, who
handled the
sale with fellow CBRE brokers
DanWoodward andMatt Barnett.
“They are really neat units that
have really great designs,” Potarf
said.
He said the units also have “top-
of-the-line finishes” with hard-
wood floors and granite counter-
tops.
Some units come with attached
garages and private entries.
With this purchase, Jackson
Square now owns nine commu-
nities in the Denver area with a
total of 2,511 units, according to
Apartment Insights, a multifamily
database by Cary Bruteig, prin-
cipal of Apartment Appraisers &
Consultants.
M2 is near West HampdenAve-
nue andWadsworth Boulevard.
“It actually is in Denver,” Potarf
said. “It is kind of the area where
Denver, Lakewood and Little-
ton border each other. Across the
street, it might be Littleton, but M2
is in Denver.”
The area is extremely attractive
to investors, he said.
“Everyone likes the West side,”
Potarf said.
“There is not as much competi-
tion as in other parts of the metro
area.”
It’s likely to stay that way, he
said.
Overbuilding does not seem to
be an issue.
“There is just not that much
available dirt,” Potarf said.
“There are some real barriers to
entry on the West side,” he said.
There was a lot of interest from
prospectivebuyers forM2, he said.
“We had double-digit offers
fromawidemix of people,” Potarf
said. “Offers came from private
capital sources and institutional
investors, both locally and from
outside of the state. Ultimately,
Jackson Square was able to get it.”
The sales price reflects the inter-
by Jill Jamieson-Nichols
Aquote from former Secre-
tary of State Colin Powell sums
up the way SamLeger views
career success: “There are no
secrets to success. It is the result
of preparation, hard work and
learning from failure.”
That philosophy holds true
regardless of market conditions.
“You can be successful regard-
less of market factors. Can they
affect you? Sure. But if you’re
out there working hard and
making phone calls and knock-
ing on doors, it doesn’t matter
what the economy is doing,”
said Leger, senior investment
broker with Unique Properties
LLC-TCNWorldwide.
His persistence and drive
are part of Leger’s upbringing,
as is real estate. His mother,
Pat, raised four children and
worked as a charter school
principal. She taught him that
giving up wasn’t an option, a
message echoed by his father,
Andy. His dad, a construction
professional, also taught Leger
real estate from the ground up.
His grandfather, Alfred Leger,
was a developer and investor,
and his best friend’s dad, Ever-
ett Merritt, gave him his first
book about real estate.
“I actually got into real
estate in North Carolina,” said
Leger, a Colorado native who
attended the University of
North Carolina. With a full-ride
soccer scholarship, Leger used
money set aside for his educa-
tion, along with his knowledge
of real estate to buy a residen-
tial condo, and he continued to
invest. “I discovered real estate
was something I had a knack
for and understood,” he said.
After graduating with a
degree in finance andmanage-
ment, Leger returned to Denver
to launch his real estate career.
“I knew that was something I
wanted to do. I just had to find
the right fit and group to get
involved with,” said Leger. “I
liked the fact that there was no
ceiling. If you worked hard,
you could do as many deals,
making as much money, as you
wanted to.”
Longtime real estate veteran
Don Kramer introduced him to
Unique Properties’ co-founder
Marc Lippitt, who hired Leger
in 2006. Leger and Tim Finholm
have been partners ever since.
Focusing on office, retail
and industrial properties,
they made the central Denver
market, with its older, brick-
and-mortar, buildings, their
specialty.
“We do a lot of owner-user
sales. We do a lot of invest-
ment sales, and leasing for our
clients,” said Leger. Most clients
are local, although, “Recently
we’ve had people coming
in from out of state who are
interested in buying in Denver
because Denver’s an attractive
market right now,” he said.
“I enjoy the interaction with
the clients. I enjoy analyzing
and figuring out deals. I enjoy
the puzzle, trying to figure out
deals that, on the surface, don’t
make any sense; the idea of
repurposing buildings, chang-
ing their use and giving clients
ideas on how to do that.”
Leger also enjoys what his
clients bring to the professional
relationship. “Our clients teach
us just as much as we teach
them. I’ve learned over the
years that listening is just as
important as talking because
you can learn a lot.”
Among 53 deals completed
last year was the $21.75 million
sale of 1600 Champa. In 2011,
Leger and Finholmhandled the
$9.5 million acquisition, by a
local 1031 exchange investor, of
the Scott’s Liquid Gold campus,
whichwas listed by Leger’s col-
league, Unique Properties’ Greg
Knott. “The building had been
on the market for years. I think
every brokerage house in Den-
ver had it listed at one time. No
one could figure out what to do
with it,” said Leger.
His greatest career satisfaction
is getting to the closing table
with a satisfied buyer and seller.
But when askedwhat he’s most
proud of, Leger said, “My wife
and kids.”
Friends set him andMeagan
up on a date a month after he
moved back to Denver from
North Carolina. Nowhap-
pily harried, the couple have
two children, Clayton, 5, and
Audrey, 3. The children already
are on skis. When they are
older, Leger hopes to share his
andMeagan’s love of travel
with a trip abroad. At Christ-
mastime, they learned about
giving as Meagan organized a
gift drive for Children’s Hospi-
tal Colorado patients, an activ-
ity they plan to continue.
In addition to brokerage,
Leger works with his dad reno-
vating buildings through 303
Construction &Development
LLC. Among their projects was
conversion of Denver’s oldest
apartment building, the Charpi-
ot Apartments (1844) at 31st
and Larimer streets in River
North, into seven commercial/
residential condos.
Leger said building relation-
ships and long-term success
in commercial real estate start
with honesty and integrity. “I
wouldn’t let my clients buy
anything that I wouldn’t buy,”
he said. “If we treat our cli-
ents like we would like to be
treated, it’s going to help us
build those relationships over
time.” s
Sam Leger
SECTION AA
Apartment Insights
M2 recently sold for $65.5 million.
Rob Link
David Potarf
MARCH 18-MARCH 31, 2015