CREJ - Journal

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by Jill Jamieson-Nichols
AWashington, D.C., com-
pany that acquires, devel-
ops and manages Class A,
government-leased prop-
erties paid $20.25 million
for the U.S. Department
of Energy Western Area
Power Administration
headquarters in Lakewood.
The acquisition was the
first Easterly Government
Properties Inc. has made
since the close of its $207
million initial public offer-
ing in February. The com-
pany now owns approxi-
mately 2.2 million square
feet of office, laboratory
and specialized space in
30 properties throughout
the United States. It leases
more than 1.9 million sf
to U.S. government agen-
cies and derives more than
96 percent of its income
from federal government
tenants.
The 115,650-sf WAPA
headquarters is located at
12155 W. Alameda Park-
way. The building is leased
to the U.S. General Services
Administration on behalf
of DOE until 2029.
Norman Wm Col LLC
sold the property in an off-
market deal.
“The Lakewood WAPA
office plays a critical role
within the Department of
Ene rgy,
a n d
we are
pl eased
to add
t h i s
property
to our
h i g h -
qu a l i t y
portfolio
of U.S.
government-leased assets,”
WilliamC. Trimble III, chief
executive officer of Easter-
ly Government Properties,
said in a statement. “The
Lakewood WAPA’s role of
marketing and delivering
clean, renewable and reli-
able power directly aligns
with our strategy of part-
nering with the federal
government to support
mission-critical govern-
ment agencies and func-
tions.”
The Western Area Power
Administration is one of
four energy marketing
administrations in the
nation that are primarily
responsible for wholesale
power distribution from
federally owned hydro-
electric power plants to
regional and local retail
power distributors.
It occupies the entire
by John Rebchook
The Hilltop Retail Cen-
ter in the Glendale/Cherry
Creek submarket recently was
acquired for $7.05 million.
The sale equates to $401 per
square foot for the 17,542-sf
center built in 2001 at 5075
Leetsdale Drive.
The buyer is a limited liabil-
ity company that incorporated
the address into the LLC. The
sellers were Hilltop Retail DL
LLC and Hilltop Retail KT LLP.
The sellers had purchased it
in 2006 for $5.1 million, accord-
ing to public records. The most
recent sales price represents a
38.2 percent gain, which out-
paced the inflation rate.
Adjusted for inflation, the
sellers paid $5.94 million for
the property, which was 100
percent occupied at the time
of sale.
Both the buyer and seller
were in a 1031 exchange.
“Thiswasanoff-marketdeal,”
said Troy Meyer, who repre-
sented the seller with fellow
Sperry Van Ness team mem-
bers Kevin
M a t t h e w s
and Dean
Corey. Nezar
Aweida of
R e / M a x
Leaders rep-
resented the
buyer.
“This was
a transaction
that really
made sense for both sides,”
Meyer said.
“The buyer had sold a shop-
ping center in Colorado Springs
and wanted
to exchange
into a retail
center in
Denver, clos-
er to home,”
Meyer said.
The sellers
were trading
into an apart-
ment build-
ing, he said.
“The seller[s] [were] in the
process of buying the apart-
by Jill Jamieson-Nichols
Blair Madden Bui is a new
generation CEO.
At the helmof her grandfa-
ther’s namesake JohnMadden
Co., 38-year-oldMadden Bui
leads by collaboration. She is
passionate about sustainability,
the arts and holistic health, and
she leaves home in the morning
comforted that her stay-at-home
husband, Tien Bui, a healer and
artist, is caring for her young
daughters, Lily andWillow.
Trailblazing and determined,
Madden Bui also is deeply
respectful of her roots and
grateful to be working along-
side company Chairman John
Madden Jr.
“I’m really excited to be in
the position that I’m in, and I’m
passionate about carrying on
the legacy that JohnMadden
has created for designing and
building timeless environments
and spaces for people to live,
work and play. Integrating the
arts into everything we do is
important at this company. It’s
been an amazing blessing to
work side by side with John
Madden. I think he’s a true leg-
end,” she said.
As a child, Madden Bui
walked vacant development
groundwith her grandfather,
listening as he shared thoughts
for what now is Greenwood
Plaza office park. “He would
talk tome about his vision
and his dream,”Madden Bui
recalled. “I think he’s always
kind of seenme as his succes-
sor, even as a little girl,” she
said, still awed that Madden
can figure construction costs on
a yellownotebook pad faster
thanmost people can turn on a
computer.
Madden Bui’s life tookmany
turns before she chose commer-
cial real estate development and
management.
“I was off and exploring other
options so I could reallymake
a good choice about whether
this was the path for me,” said
Madden Bui, who as a 12-year-
old growing up in Greenwood
Village presented her mother
with an accepted application for
boarding school in Springfield,
Massachusetts. She spent her
junior high school years there,
experiencing diversity that
Greenwood Village, at least at
that time, didn’t offer. “I got to
explore living with girls from all
over the world,” she said.
Madden Bui studied theater
performance at The Claremont
Colleges, taught gifted and tal-
ented students at Logan School
in Denver, earned her Master
of BusinessAdministration
from the University of Denver,
and taught second- and third-
graders, each on an individual
learning plan, in Denver Public
Schools.
“I loved it,” she said. “Then I
realized I was in a system that
wanted to squelchmy creativ-
ity.”
Madden Bui was offered a
paid position as Broomfield’s
ambassador to its sister city
of Maruko, Japan, a “joyful
experience” that uncovered her
connection to all thingsAsian.
Returning home, she headed
up programs for theMuseum
of OutdoorArts, founded by
her grandfather and her mother,
CynthiaMadden-Leitner.
“The arts are heavily integrat-
ed into our family and our busi-
ness,” saidMadden Bui, noting
Fiddler’s GreenAmphitheatre
and sculptures placed through-
out the office park are just some
of the ways the company has
made art part of people’s daily
lives.
Madden Bui joined John
Madden Co. in 2011 as a recep-
tionist – the personwho sets
the tone for visitors and callers
and “has to know anything
and everything in every depart-
ment.”Within eight months,
“JohnMadden started inviting
me into every single one of his
meetings. I think it was a test,”
saidMadden Bui, who worked
her way into business develop-
ment before being named CEO
last year. That appointment,
she said, was a family decision
involving JohnMadden, herself
and J. Madden, her uncle, who
co-chairs the company and
also is heavily involved in the
renowned GreenwoodAthletic
and Tennis Club and Pura Vida
Fitness & Spa in Cherry Creek
North.
“I couldn’t have found a bet-
ter person,” said JohnMadden,
who characterized his grand-
daughter as an exceptionally
bright, hardworking woman
who is not afraid to take a risk,
even if it means making a mis-
take once in awhile. “Alot of
times, you have a relative in the
business and it doesn’t work,”
he said, indicating a synergistic
relationshipwith his grand-
daughter. “It’s very heartwarm-
ing. I couldn’t have planned it
any better,” he said.
“We work so well together.
Sometimes we have to put the
boxing gloves on and duke it
out, but that’s only healthy,”
saidMadden Bui, who added
that once a decision is reached,
it’s time tomove on. “I don’t
have time to hold onto stress.
There’s toomuch to be done.”
JohnMadden Co. has devel-
opedmore than 10 million
square feet of ClassAAoffice
space sinceMadden founded
the company in 1966. It cur-
rently owns andmanages a trio
Blair Madden Bui
SECTION AA
MAY 6-MAY 19, 2015
Hilltop Retail Center recently sold.
William C. Trimble III
Troy Meyer Kevin Matthews