CREJ - Journal

Page 10 —

COLORADO REAL ESTATE JOURNAL

— April 1-April 14, 2015

Greater Denver

by Jill Jamieson-Nichols

Jim Neenan will take on the

role of president and chief operat-

ing officer of Denver-based Prime

West Cos., one of the metro area’s

largest development andproperty

management firms. Steve Clarke,

chief executive officer and former

president, will remain the com-

pany’s CEO.

“I’ve known Jim for 30 years

and have always had tremendous

respect for his work ethic, intel-

lect and his attention to detail,”

said Clarke. “Jim has the unique

qualifications needed to fill this

position. He has vast experience

operating a company, as well as

managing the dynamics of the

various stages of the development

process. He is excellent in estab-

lishing enduring relationships,

and his people skills give him the

ability to reach consensus in dif-

ficult situations.”

Neenan’s primary responsibil-

ity will be sourcing and struc-

turing development opportuni-

ties. The company specializes in

office development in Colorado,

as well as light-industrial and

retail development. Upcoming

projects include a 310,000-square-

foot office building with ground-

floor retail at

the Belleview

Station tran-

sit-oriented

development.

Neenan has

served

senior

vice

president of

development

at Prime West

Development

Inc. since joining the company

in 2012. “Prime West has always

been a first-class operation, from

top to bottom,” said Neenan. A

former client and competitor,

Neenan said he joined the com-

pany because, “I truly valued

their ethics and straightforward

approach.”

“I think any enterprise needs

a couple of strong people at the

top,” said Clarke. “When Jim

joined PrimeWest, our long-range

plan was for him to become presi-

dent and COO in three years. Jim

has performed admirably, and

we’re right on schedule,” he said.

“It’s an incredible opportunity

and matches up very well with

myriad background experiences

that I have,” said Neenan, a for-

mer president and senior vice

president of business develop-

ment for Fort Collins-basedNeen-

an Co. Neenan also is a former

owner and president of Gardner

Signs Inc., also in Fort Collins.

After more than 30 years in

commercial real estate, Neenan

still enjoys putting together the

components of a deal. “Devel-

opment involves lots of puzzle

pieces – a lot of stakeholders,” he

said. “It’s about finding ways to

find a balance so all the stakehold-

ers find a way to win. It’s solving

challenges.”

Anative of Kansas City, Neenan

holds a Bachelor of Science in civil

engineering and did graduate

studies at what now is Rockhurst

University. Neenan serves on the

board of NAIOP Colorado and

is parish council president at All

Souls Parish. He and his wife,

Nancy, have seven children.

Founded in 1981, Prime West

Cos. has developed more than

5 million sf of commercial real

estate and currently manages

2.2 million sf of office, retail and

medical projects. The company

provides a full suite of commer-

cial real estate services through

two main businesses, Prime West

Development Inc. andPrimeWest

Real Estate Services.

Neenan named president, COO of Denver-based Prime West

Jim Neenan

this to meet the demand that’s

out there in the market,” Viseur

said.

“There are a number of users

that cannot find quality space

in the Denver market in the size

range that they require,” added

Witty. "This project will help

satisfy the strong demand for

this type of space in the metro

area.”

All three new buildings

planned at Eastpark will offer

double-loaded distribution

space with 32-foot clear height,

ESFR sprinkler systems, mul-

tiple dock doors and on-site

trailer parking. The buildings

total 815,700 sf.

EP 70 LLC, a single-asset enti-

ty managed by Consolidated

Investment Group, is devel-

oping Eastpark 70, a master-

planned industrial parkat Smith

Road and Ensenada Street. The

site, with nearby access to I-270,

I-25,

I-225

and E-470, is

a mile from

I-70

and

Tower Road,

which offers

multiple res-

taurants and

retail ameni-

ties.

A c c o r d -

ing to Viseur,

Denver’s industrial market

absorbed 2.2 million sf of space

in 2014 and currently has 1.66

million sf under construction –

not enough to keep pace with

demand should absorption

continue at last year’s pace.

There continue to be local ten-

ants looking to expand and

new companies coming to the

market, which increasingly

is shifting from a regional to

interstate distribution market,

said Chris Winn, asset manager

for Consolidated Investment

Group. Eastpark 70 is well posi-

tioned to capture some of that

demand, Winn said.

Besides the capability to

assemble more than 800,000

sf of contiguous space, East-

park 70 is one of the few parks

where a tenant will be able to

obtain blocks of Class A space

smaller than 100,000 sf. Cur-

rently, “If you’re looking for

50,000 to 75,000 square feet in

the northeast market, there are

very, very few buildings,” said

Viseur.

The park also has perimeter

sites for buildings of 70,000 sf of

smaller with outside storage – a

feature that also is exceedingly

difficult to find in the Denver

market.

“We are pleased to offer a

range of industrial prod-

uct types and space sizes to

serve the growing distribution

demands in the Denver market

from both regional and national

businesses at Eastpark 70,” said

Winn.

Eastpark Continued from Page 1

Todd Witty

ver office properties. By com-

parison, 1755 Blake sold for $474

per sf, and Millennium Financial

Center traded for $439 per sf,

both in late 2013.

Invesco had plenty of competi-

tion for 1515

Wynkoop.

“It

was

i n c r e d -

ible activity.

It was inter-

national capi-

tal, all major

domestic, in-

s t i t u t i o n a l

capital, core

funds, pen-

sion funds, all sources looked

hard at it,” said Geoff Baukol,

senior vice president in CBRE’s

investment properties group.

Core assets with the quality

and locational attributes of 1515

Wynkoop are “incredibly rare

not just in Denver, but really

across the Western region and

the United States right now,”

said Baukol, who represented

American Realty Advisors with

CBRE’s Kevin Shannon. “I think

the supply-demand imbalance

from capital seeking core assets

of that size definitely led to very,

very strong activity.”

Lower Downtown and Den-

ver Union Station clearly have

captured investor attention.

“Employees want to be there,

tenants want to be there and

investors want to be there,” Bau-

kol commented.

During its ownership of 1515

Wynkoop, American Realty

Advisors executed new leases

that brought the LEED Gold

building to full occupancy. Ten-

ants range in size up to 75,000

sf and include Maximus, Black

Hills Corp., Polsinelli (which

will expand into a new building

in 2016) and others.

“By attracting high-level, long-

term tenants, we were also able

to increase rental rates, setting

a new high-water mark for the

asset and strengthening yields

for our investors,” said Iez-

man, whose firm won multiple

awards for the building while

it was under its management.

1515 Continued from Page 4

Geoff Baukol

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