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May 6-May 19, 2015 — COLORADO REAL ESTATE JOURNAL — Page 7AA
ment building, so [were] motivated to
complete the sale,” in the time frame
required to defer taxes on the capital
gains through the 1031 exchange, he
said.
Because both parties were involved
in a 1031 exchange, they didn’t take it
to the open market, Matthews said.
“I do think we would have had a lot of
interest from buyers, if we had, because
of the location,” Matthews said.
“It is close to the Glendale and the
Hilltop neighborhoods and is right
across the street from that King Soop-
ers, which is always busy. It is the King
Soopers with its liquor license,” Mat-
thews said.
He said the sales price of Hilltop
Retail Center was reflective of the mar-
ket.
“It was good for the buyer and good
for the seller,” Matthews said.
“It was the market price,” he said.
“There is a lot of traffic in the area
and there are some real barriers to
entry,” because most of the land along
Leetsdale has been developed, he said.
The property was 100 percent leased
at the time of the sale. Tenants include
Peepers Optical, Darque Tan, Papou’s
Pizzeria and Salon Centric.
“I don’t think they would have any
trouble backfilling any of the space, if
any of the tenants left,” Matthews said.
Properties along South Colorado
Boulevard sell for even more, because
they command higher rents, he said.
Also, the investor appetite for small-
er, infill centers is growing, he said.
“I think investors still prefer gro-
cery-anchored centers, but these strip
centers in urban locations with high
traffic and a good tenant mix are real-
ly becoming popular with investors,”
Matthews said.
The Hilltop Center also includes a
basement that is currently used for
storage.
The buyer calculated the purchase
price using only the above-grade space.
“The basement is basically the same
footprint (as the storefronts), so they
have more 17,000 square feet below
ground,” Matthews said.
“Basement space is kind of difficult
to lease,” Matthews said. “But if they
can find a use for that basement space,
it’s just icing on the cake for an already
great center at a great location. If they
can lease that basement space, it would
be an added bonus.”
Other News
n Teller Street Kitchen leased 6,226
square feet at 464 S. Teller St. in Belmar
in Lakewood. Robb Brown of the Den-
ver Retail Group represented the ten-
ant in the transaction. The listing firm
was GF Properties Group, a wholly
owned subsidiary of the Southern Ute
Indian Tribe Growth Fund.s
ʻI think investors still
prefer grocery-anchored
centers, but these strip
centers in urban locations
with high traffic and a
good tenant mix are really
becoming popular
with investors.ʼ
– Kevin Matthews, Sperry Van Ness